Senator Gerard Craughwell- speech from 22 Feb 2021

Thank you. Minister, good afternoon and welcome to the House. Minister, it is ironic that we are debating this matter on the very day when the headline in the Irish Independent reads, revealed, TDs in line for pay rise to push their wages back over £100,000. As recently as last week we had yet another commencement debate on the issue of councillorist pay, one of dozens since I first took my seat in 2014. We could paper the walls of this illustrious chamber with the emails and newsletters that have been sent out by senators to councillors, each one promising to secure a pay increase for them. I booked that trend and told a shocked AILG meeting in Inchidani in 2015 that there would be no increase in councillors' pay that year or any other year because they are not respected for the work they do and at any rate there was no political will to increase their pay. I was told then by the President of the AILG, who is now Minister of State, that there was no room for people like me with solo runs on the matter and the matter would be handled by government. That was 2015. I was stunned by this because I was the first person to raise the issue of councillorist pay in the shannon in 2014, soon after the local government reform programme was rolled out. Many at that time told me I should not have spoken publicly about politicians' pay. Why? Should we only deal with these issues in back rooms out of sight of the taxpayer? Councillors work hard for their communities and as such they are entitled to a decent salary. So why did I speak out back then on pay and PRSI? I did so because it was immediately obvious to me that the Local Government Reform Act of 2014, putting people first, had put councillors last and because of the reforms it greatly increased the workload of councillors and the distances they had to travel across their constituencies. I am a committed trade unionist and I subscribe fully to the mantra, if you do more work you get more pay. If I have learnt anything over the last six and a half years, it is that as constituents, councillors are treated appallingly by government members and it takes a court case or some other metaphorical gun to the head to get results. In 2016 I was rap and tear for Class K PRSI at the Education and Welfare Committee. This PRSI class is charged at 4%, the same as Class A, but there are absolutely no benefits for it. I had raised the matter through commencement debates in the Shannon, but governments were unwilling to act on this. So I assembled a group of county councillors who were willing to take a massive risk of costs and take a constitutional challenge to the High Court against having the Class K PRSI. The challenge which resulted in the government changing councillors' PRSI to Class A was the outcome. But how much money was spent trying to preserve Class K PRSI for the government to capitulate at the last moment? It is deeply regrettable that this has been the only major achievement for councillors' terms and conditions in all those years and it would never have happened if those brave councillors who joined with me hadn't moved on it in the first place. Promises are made, especially at Shannon's election times and during the formation of the present government, promises which were soon forgotten once TDs and Senators had secured their seats in the offices. As someone who came to this House from outside the political establishment, I find it disgusting and I applaud councillors for their patience, particularly with their own political parties. I am horrified every time I hear a government senator call on the minister to resolve the issue of councillors' pay. That's window dressing of the worst kind. As one councillor said to me, do they think we're all stupid enough to believe a word of it? Over the last six and a half years, Fianna Fáil have blamed Fine Gael for this failure and now we have Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in power since this time last year and still nothing has been done. If there is any reason for this unforgivable heel dragging, it can only be cowardice. We have political parties afraid to upset the public by giving pay increases to those on the lowest rung of the lather, but arguably the most important step on the political lather. However, as is evident from today's paper, they are not afraid to accept pay increases and increase numbers of ministerial positions and advisors themselves. It really smacks of pulling the lather up behind them. In 2018, the long-awaited Moorhead report was published. Some of the report's ten major recommendations have been contentious, particularly those relating to pay, allowances, expenses and pension entitlements. I acknowledge the difference of opinion on how best to remunerate councillors for their work, but this cannot be used as an excuse to delay. It is now 2021 and the commitment in the Programme for Government to implement the pay element of Moorhead is fast approaching. Can you confirm for us today, Minister, if what was reported in the media is true? Has Cabinet signed off on the proposals which we are told you brought to Minister McGrath before Christmas? I am certain that your reply is eagerly awaited by the hundreds of councillors who are watching this today. Perhaps there is a plan somewhere to price ordinary people out of politics. Perhaps Government would prefer it if only the wealthy could enter politics on the lowest rung of the lather. Many councillors are unemployed. Many more will be unemployed at the end of this pandemic. Many of those are women and the councillor's salary is their only income. Perhaps Government would prefer it if they did not run for election. The media are also listening in. I would ask the esteemed political press corps to stop adding to councillors' problems by framing this debate as whopping pay increases, very generous allowances, big expenses, etc. This not only reduces public trust in democracy, it undermines the councillor's case. I can tell you that they are sick to the teeth of being portrayed in this way. The miserly pay increase recommended in Moorhead has been reported in the media many times already and not a single cent has been paid over. I ask the media to stop this. We saw what happened in the USA when the democratic process was undermined. It may sell newspapers, but it is grossly unfair on councillors and democracy, etc. Minister, I do appreciate that you are only in office a short time and that you are confronted with this issue. So I do appreciate that. But I have to ask you today, Minister, can you guarantee that no councillor will be worse off if Moorhead is implemented? Can you tell me what the rate of pay will be? Will the payment match a grade in the public service or will the payment be linked to the pay of Senators and TDs? If the payment is linked to a public service grade, will it track that grade always? Will there be an incremental scale or will the payment be a flat payment? When precisely will this payment commence? Will the pay be retrospective as was promised back to the date of the last election? Will you, Minister, remove the requirement for travel accumulation for councillors as recommended by the Moorhead report? For example, many councillors are travelling massive distances for council meetings, but they are also members of ETBs, they are members of the health board and they have various other public services that they are involved with. And this has become a massive problem and a disincentive to having them involved in these particular organisations. Minister, those are the questions that have been put to me over the last few days by county councillors from all parties and none. I really do think it is most regrettable that we are standing here today six years later and nothing has been done. County councillors, not only are they the go-to people in local authority areas, but they work extremely hard. They are committed to their communities, they are committed to their own political parties, and at the time of election they are the foot soldiers of political parties. We should not be embarrassed about arguing the case for pay for county councillors. They deserve what they are getting. We reduced the numbers greatly in 2014 and we increased the area. So I do believe that it is time that we took on board the difficult task of getting the remuneration correct for them, get them paid, get them looked after. There are a number of other things that I might bring up a little bit later on. But as for now, I think I will hand over to my colleague Senator Keoghan. Thank you very much indeed Minister.