glad I did not put them in TDs break cronyism pledge by giving jobs to family members

N

NOAH

Registered User
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Ha, so nothing changes, lets hope the IMF/ECB get a whiff of this .... oh sorry its the public who have to pay, property tax/water etc etc.

Enda wants 2 terms, he'll be lucky to last one.

Its the same old story.

noah

ps Fine Gael never reply to emails
 
Can you give us a link to that info,so we can all bring it to their attention..
Have to completely disagree re Fine Gael never replying to emails.
Anytime I have emailed them,I have got a reply.
 
http://www.independent.ie/national-...by-giving-jobs-to-family-members-2667551.html

Despite a Fine Gael pledge to end cronyism, Training and Skills Minister Ciaran Cannon has hired his wife as his secretary and his brother-in-law as one of his drivers.

The job of personal secretary to the minister, held by Mr Cannon's wife Niamh Lawless, comes with a salary of between ¿23,000 and ¿47,000.

The civilian driver's post comes with a ¿35,000 salary, and junior ministers are allowed to hire two drivers each. Mr Cannon did not return calls, but during the election campaign he said Fine Gael would "fix our political system and sweep away the culture of cronyism".

And junior agriculture minister Shane McEntee's daughter and sister are job-sharing his personal assistant post, splitting the ¿44,000 salary between them, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Kerry North's Arthur Spring -- who worked as a parliamentary assistant for his uncle Dick -- has now hired his brother Graham as his own parliamentary assistant, a post with a salary of between €41,000 and €52,000.

The Fine Gael ministerial pair are among a number of ministers who employ family members -- Labour's Kathleen Lynch, a junior health minister, employs her husband Bernard as her personal assistant; junior enterprise minister Sean Sherlock's sister works in his office; and super-junior minister Willie Penrose employs his brother, Johnny.

> Fine Gael Waterford TD Paudie Coffey, whose wife Suzanne is his part-time secretarial assistant.

> Fine Gael Louth TD and county football manager Peter Fitzpatrick, whose daughter Grace is his secretarial assistant, a position that comes with a salary of around €23,000.

> Fianna Fail Laois-Offaly TD Sean Fleming employs his wife Mary as his part-time parliamentary assistant.

> Independent TD Mattie McGrath has his daughter Triona and niece Kathy sharing the job of his parliamentary assistant.

There was acute embarrassment within Fine Gael when the Irish Independent previously revealed that Kerry South TD Brendan Griffin -- who had promised during the election campaign to give up half his salary -- hired his wife Roisin as his secretarial assistant, his cousin Tommy Griffin as his parliamentary assistant and helped another cousin, Matt Griffin, get his old council seat.

Another TD, Dublin North's Alan Farrell, also caused embarrassment when he hired his wife Emma Doyle as a parliamentary assistant, although he later claimed that this was a temporary appointment.
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It's quite a long article so I just picked out the names


NOAH said:
ps Fine Gael never reply to emails
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Are you giving your name and address on the email?
I sometimes contact my local reps and always get replies. Sometimes they send a letter instead of replying by email.

Very important to give your name and address if you want to be taken seriously.

And if you do this already, not sure what the issue was
 
I was complaining!!! But it was after the election and I gave mobile etc. Never mind, life goes on.

noah
 
Don't bother complaining. You're wasting your time.

FG are carrying on from where FF left off. They are one and the same.
 
I'm not quite sure what the job entails but I gather its pretty much a fetcher carrier fixer type thing, and if TD's are on call 24/7 then who else can you call 24/7.

Its the amounts more than the individuals I'd be concerned about.

I think expenses should be 100% vouched, compulsory. If you really spent the money then it should be no problem, if you didnt then you're just looking for tax free pay.
 
thedaras said:
Can you give us a link to that info,so we can all bring it to their attention..
Have to completely disagree re Fine Gael never replying to emails.
Anytime I have emailed them,I have got a reply.
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Can't seem to get an answer from them. Tried TDs email, facebook and website - It is impossibe to get a direct answer to a question.

They just forward emails around without ever giving a direct response.

Some look for an address - but I really don't want to be on their Christmas Card List.

Finding it impossible to get info from them.
 
thank you Cork I am delighted it is not only me. I bet if I offered a contribution they would reply sharpish.

noah
 
NOAH said:
ps Fine Gael never reply to emails
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NOAH, I'm not saying that they didn't reply to your email or others,but they did reply to mine and my husband sent them an email on Tuesday and they did reply (we are not FG members) so its a bit unfair to say they never reply to emails,that was my only point..I understand that they never reply to your emails.
Did you email a particular TD?
 
thedaras said:
Can you give us a link to that info,so we can all bring it to their attention..
Have to completely disagree re Fine Gael never replying to emails.
Anytime I have emailed them,I have got a reply.
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On a persoanl basis i am still awaiting a reply re: two e-mails from two seperate FG TD's

5 weeks and waiting even after a polite reminder

Before anyone asks I am not a supporter of any individual party
 
That is disgraceful, for those who are not getting replies..wonder if you should phone their offices or the FG head office ,failing that theres always Joe Duffy;)

Listening to JD today and there are a lot of people on about relatives getting jobs,and Joan Collins sister on defending her Dad working for Joan,and her Partner also working for her,,really shocked that they should be so defensive as Joan Collins was the very one to complain about Bertie doing just that.

So back to the original post,I agree completely nothing has changed in some cases and I for one thought that People before profit were all about the people..stunning how when its there turn ,they do exactly the same.

I think that we need to see this in the light of how Bertie did the same and justified it..
 
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thedaras,

Can you explain what Bertie Ahern is meant to have done as I'd imagine some people wouldnt know what , apart from the obvious things, he is meant to have done


I have no issue with a TD hiring a family member to work as their personal assistant as long as the salary and expenses are fully accounted for. Ministers of State would have Private Secretaries who would go through a Public Service competition for the position, but each TD is allowed hire additional personal assistants who work very closely with them at all hours of the day. Would you fancy doing that?

The title of this thread is all over the place and there is no cronyism involved here. If anything it is nepotism.
 
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Joan Collins explained herself pretty well yesterday on Pat Kenny show

And if you need an assistant a family member will know the constituency and the locals, the different issues and has probably been doing the job since the county councillor days.

I don't realy have an issue with getting a family member to work in the constituency office, they know the ropes.

But I do know if FF were in power Joan Collins would be screaming about jobs for the boys. In fact she mentioned jobs for the boys on the podcast with Pat Kenny. She wants it both ways

The junior ministers appointing drivers at 35k is something to complain about though. No shortage of experienced drivers around the country who would take that salary and do a good job. But it went to family members
 
RonanC said:
thedaras,

do you want to explain what Bertie Ahern is meant to have done?

Also, your title is all over the place and there is no cronyism involved here. If anything it is nepotism.

I have no issue with a TD hiring a family member to work as their personal assistant as long as the salary and expenses are fully accounted for. Ministers of State would have Private Secretaries who would go through a Public Service competition for the position, but each TD is allowed hire additional personal assistants who work very closely with them at all hours of the day. Would you fancy doing that?
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Whoa...Chill out there RonanC, It is NOT MY title,perhaps look at who the OP is for clarity!
I dont recall mentioning either cronyism nor nepotism.
I would like people to have the opportunity to apply for the position,if they wished to do so.
Point is this hasnt done us any favours in the past,so why do you think things will get better if it stays this way?
And here is the link to Joan Collins talking about Bertie;
[broken link removed]
Pot and kettle come to mind..by the way it would be interesting to hear how they manage,when or if they dont have a family member who can take up the position.
 
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thedaras said:
Whoa...Chill out there RonanC, It is NOT MY title,perhaps look at who the OP is for clarity!
I dont recall mentioning either cronyism nor nepotism.
I would like people to have the opportunity to apply for the position,if they wished to do so.
Point is this hasnt done us any favours in the past,so why do you think things will get better if it stays this way?
And here is the link to Joan Collins talking about Bertie;
[broken link removed]
Pot and kettle come to mind..by the way it would be interesting to hear how they manage,when or if they dont have a family member who can take up the position.
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Sorry thedaras, long day.... head all over the place and read the post arseways
 
Glad to hear others have not got responses from them either. I wont name names but there's one TD in particular that will sit and listen closely to your whole life story and you will be lucky if you receive any follow up response. Again I thought it was me that might have bored them to tears but in fact it was well known within this particularly community that this individual never responded to anything yet they sailed in in the last election.

Not me but I know of somebody who was looking to join the party and they haven't had a follow up to their request either. I suppose if they had of looked to join pre the elections they may have got a call back:rolleyes:
 
Betsy Og said:
I think expenses should be 100% vouched, compulsory.
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This is a double-edged sword. If they are to be vouched, then we're paying for somebody to check each receipt and make sure that they're not trying to sneak in a sneaky pint etc. With a fixed rate or amount, you eliminate the need for all the checking, and leave it up to person themselves to find good value for their own money.
 
@ronan c

Its cronyism not nepotism, look it up. I missed out the " in the heading" it was the link from the indo.

Anyway we wont fight but I happened to watch Enda during the week explain some changes to manpower figures " I had 189 in my depatment its now 163, ..... 26 transferred to some other depart. " Now if all the TD's and ministers they can end up with fantastic end of year manpower figures. I wish I was the HR guru, would never miss a target.

Enda losses = actual losses, not transfers.

Oh well nice to know election was a total and utter waste of money as usual.

noah
 
NOAH said:
@ronan c

Its cronyism not nepotism, look it up. I missed out the " in the heading" it was the link from the indo.

Anyway we wont fight but I happened to watch Enda during the week explain some changes to manpower figures " I had 189 in my depatment its now 163, ..... 26 transferred to some other depart. " Now if all the TD's and ministers they can end up with fantastic end of year manpower figures. I wish I was the HR guru, would never miss a target.

Enda losses = actual losses, not transfers.

Oh well nice to know election was a total and utter waste of money as usual.

noah
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Noah, I have already...

Nepotism - Favouritism shown to relatives or close friends by those with power or influence.

Cronyism - Favoritism shown to old friends without regard for their qualifications, as in political appointments to office.
None of the jobs, apart from the Co. Council seat are political appointments, they are mostly administration functions.
 
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