Northern Ireland's MLAs are claiming nearly £1,000 on average each week in office, staff and other expenses. Expenses claimed since 8 May now total almost £2m, working out at £928 each week (or £132.60 each day) per member.
But let’s now get down to the Nitty Gritty...
Having been forced to flog the private jet, Mary Bradley has now been pushed off the top place, in the latest...
Stormont Snouts in the Trough League Table:
1. Upper Bann DUP> Stephen Moutray: (GBP 33,522)
2. Foyle MLA SDLP> Mary Bradley: (GBP 32,053)
3. Upper Bann UUP>George Savage (£31,060)
4. Antrim North DUP> Ian Paisley Jnr (£29,800)
5. Mid Tyrone Independent>Dr Deeny (£28,185)
But it’s not as bad as it looks, no, really, as Wee Jeffrey points out:
The DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson said the money paid for the cost of running constituency offices and did not go into MLAs' pockets.
"It's not MLAs claiming expenses, it's MLAs providing a service to their constituents that is funded through properly monitored procedures," Mr Donaldson said.
Ermmm…I think it is MLAs claiming expenses, that’s why it is possible to have the breakdown of who’s pocketed (pun intended) what.
And, just think, if Moutray and George Savage continue at their present rate, they’ll be jointly pulling in close to 170 grand for the year, that’ll be a helluva lot of "service" Upper Bann will be enjoying. Rumours that they’ve been travelling up to Belfast, First Class, each day from Lurgan station on the Orient Express, are probably just that, rumours.
Also there is the question of the wide disparity of expenses claimed; DUPer West Tyrone MLA Allan Bresland has had to make do with a piddly £2,185, less than a 1/15th of what Moutray has claimed. Are his constituents receiving 1/15th of the service of those enjoyed in Upper Bann? Or does he need to get a new pair of baggy strides with deeper pockets?
Of course, this is all necessary to make sure those wheels of democracy and legislation and pointless debate keep oiled turning round at the Piggy-Bank on the Hill.
With the emphasis on the pointless debate...according even to those at the coalface.
Northern Ireland's MLAs...well worth two milllion of anyon..our money.
2 comments:
I have to say, theres always a lot of misunderstanding about this. I'll be willing to bet that Stephen Moutray has kitted out a new Office since May, I know Savage has, and I'll bet that Bresland hasn't gotten around to it yet. No one will be claiming more than around 70 grand a year, thats the limit, and that pays for rent, staff wages, telephone, stationary etc etc in the one or more Constituency offices each MLA has. Democracy costs money I'm afraid.
Michael
Just by coincidence I was reading this article earlier:
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=1583712007
Wendy Alexander is complaining about here allowance/expenses which are capped at 23,000. GBP..
Re the office expenses...every party will already have constituency offices surely, in which case why the need to kit out new offices for each MLA individually?
And in the modern technological age where most of our communication is dealt with by phone or increasingly online is there a need for such an office anyway?
I'd be also interested to see the names of some of the people working for our MLAs, I bet there'd be more than a few family connections amongst some of the "receptionists", "secretaries" etc.
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