Should Gogarty resign from Education Committee?

[Shawady]

The Green party's Paul Gogarty has resigned as the Education spokesperson for his party but he is still the chairperson of a government Education Committee and receives 20k for it.
If he wants to make a stand should he step down from this postion?

His salary is 90k. 20 k to chair a committee seems like a huge amount compared to his TD's salary (22% of his salary).

 

[michaelm]

Yes he should. In fact I think he and Cuffe should resign from the Greens and join Labour, as Education and Environment spokespersons respectively, and bring an end to this whole sham with new elections. Incidentally, Paddy Power go 1-2 for a general election in 2009.

The Greens lust for power has seen them abandon most of their core policies (I'm thinking M3, Co-Location, Education promises, Incineration, Shannon, Lisbon, etc.) just so they could ban Stag hunting and lightbulbs, tax parking spaces and provide tax relief for bicycles . . no wait, they didn't quite manage any of that, but they did manage to divide their party.

The Greens went into government with the belief that they would be in government, holding the balance of power, for the next 20 years. Recent opinion pools have shaken that belief as it seems that they are surplus to future requirements. Gormley and Ryan have nailed their colours to the mast of FF Titanic but Cuffe and Gogarty can and should jump ship.

 

[csirl]

I think this is a cynical political ploy by someone who's hedging his bets. He wants to give the impression that he does not support FF in Government, but the reality is that he and his party colleagues are keeping them in power. If he doesnt support the Government, he should join the opposition benches.