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"Cut our TD wages to save home
help"
18.10.12
A DONEGAL TD has called
on the Government to cut the wages of Dáil deputies
and senators to reverse the planned cuts in home
help hours.
Sinn Féin deputy, Pearse Doherty said: “There are
226 members in this house and the Seanad. We could
reduce ministers’ pay to €100,000, deputies’ pay to
€75,000 and senators’ pay to €60,000. That leaves
every single one of us with a very generous income
and would save €4.3 million – over 250,000 home help
hours," he told the Dáil. |
"The plan to cut home
help hours by 450,000 hours is cruel and heartless.
This will mean a further loss of 20,000 home help
hours between now and the end of the year for people
in my county. That is almost 2,000 hours per week.
That is on top of the 25,000 hours that have been
taken away from that county so far this year.
“Behind every single one of those figures is an
individual with a particular need for care."
Deputy Doherty says the Government line that it had
no option but to cut the hours was wrong. |
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Deputy Pearse Doherty |
"The minister and
government deputies say they have no option but I
will give the minister an option. He says he wants
to save €8 million by cutting 450,000 hours of home
help supports for very vulnerable people. I would
tell him to dig into his pockets.
“Politics is all about choices. I would rather ask
for my pay and that of deputies and senators to be
cut instead of taking away that basic need of
vulnerable people to stay in their homes so they can
live their lives to the fullest.
“That is the choice facing Fine Gael and Labour. If
they make the wrong decision it is nothing more than
cowardly behaviour to attack the most vulnerable
people in our society.” |
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