WHO remembers when former European Commissioner Padraig Flynn got the nation’s back up on the ‘Late Late Show’ in 1999 when he complained about having to run three houses on his salary?
It would be fair to say there wasn’t much sympathy for his plight. Flynn, it seemed, was living in a parallel universe that was light years away from ordinary people’s lives.
I was reminded of this episode last week when I read reports of Paschal Donohue being lobbied by a number of Fine Gael Ministers of State over rising hotel costs in Dublin. When the Dáil is sitting, these poor lambs have to travel up from the country and cover the cost of overnight accommodation out of their own pockets (the horror, the horror!).
If anything, the request for hotel money highlights the ongoing disconnect between politics and real life. One junior minister claimed that the annual hotel bill for staying in Dublin could reach €10,000. Even if that’s the case, it would still leave them with a fair chunk of change – almost three times the average industrial wage – out of their €130,000 salary. Can you imagine trying to survive on €120,000? Give me a break.
While I find the sense of entitlement particularly galling, it is all the more offensive given the scale of the ongoing homelessness crisis. When it comes to this issue, hotels make the headlines for completely different reasons. Some charities have reported difficulties in supporting needy families as they are moved from hotel to hotel so frequently, with no place to cook and no room for a Christmas tree.
Perhaps the junior ministers in question could pool their resources and dip their toes into the city’s dysfunctional rental market. If they don’t mind sharing with complete strangers, they could probably find a room to rent with a couple of bunk beds.
The ministers can take some comfort from the fact that members of the Dáil enjoy very generous holidays and the need to stay overnight in the big smoke doesn’t arise 52 weeks of the year (far from it, in fact).
By all accounts, common sense prevailed and Minster Donohue, after giving them a fair hearing, politely showed them the door. And who can blame him? The optics of acceding to their proposal would not have been good, particularly as a general election in 2019 looks increasingly likely.
Don’t be surprised, however, if the issue raises its head again after a new Government is formed. Hopefully the next Minister for Finance will also be cognisant of the public revulsion that the granting of such a distasteful request would cause.