I SUPPOSE I should have been shocked – but I wasn’t.
It is definitely a case of what is good for the goose is not good for the gander.
It now appears that some of our newly-elected leaders believe they are entitled to break the wage ceiling when it comes to hiring ‘experts’ to help them do their jobs.
I can remember not too long ago when there was a constant moan from the opposition benches when the runaway bills incurred by the previous government were examined in detail.
Time and time again, we read about people on huge salaries, who were hired to advise the government – and as we all know, that advice wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.
In fact, some would argue that advice was the reason we are currently in the midst of a deep recession, with little or no light at the end of the tunnel.
But staying with matters topical, I wonder will anyone question why it is okay for our taoiseach, tánaiste and some of their government colleagues to hire people on salaries in excess of €92,000 a year, when we all know that that so many can’t even get a job, much less reach the minimum wage.
You have to pay for talent, but there are many very talented people who would love to have a chance to work for the government and it wouldn’t cost anything like €150,000 a year.
Why is it that as soon as people get into a position of authority, they suddenly lose the run of themselves or that bit of common sense they seemed to demonstrate only a few months previously?
I can remember not too long ago, when minister Joan Burton did nothing but talk about people ‘on the ground’ and how they were suffering. I can bet you there are not too many in her constituency who are earning anything like the colour of the wages her staff now enjoy.
A couple of weeks from now, we will find out what new hairshirt measures our new finance minister Michael Noonan has in store.
You can bet there will be a lot of justification as to why we have to endure this and that and how we are winning the propaganda war in Europe about how good we are and how good we have been in trying to repair the disaster which was created by bankers and politicians of the recent past.
That’s all very well, but it will not take away from the fact that only last week we heard of one voluntary organisation which was experiencing a huge increase in the numbers looking to be fed at its soup kitchens.
There were homeless people in that group but there were also individuals and families turning up simply because they had no money to buy food.
Think about that, then remember all the needless ‘advice’ which is costing this country a fortune and you wonder was there any point in holding a general election a few months ago.
Yes, Enda Kenny has done a great job in bringing about a little confidence to the people of this country. Yes, the visit of Queen Elizabeth and President Obama was great.
And yes, the recent good fortune of the Irish rugby team has put a little pep in our step. But all of that doesn’t take away from the fact that between 2006 and now, the value of property – that same property which generated a fortune in taxes and allowed government to go on a mad spending spree – has dropped in value by a whopping 45%.
And anyone who bought at the height of the market and now find themselves unable to pay their mortgages because they are either unemployed or are on reduced incomes are now being told ‘tough – sort it out yourselves’.
If that is all the advisers earning small fortunes can come up with for our esteemed leaders, then I think it is time they were shown the door. Don’t you?