Enda axes former Taoisigh expenses - but too late to reclaim Bertie's €367,000 windfall
By: Daniel O'Carroll | Published Wednesday, January 4, 2012, 10:00 AM | Updated Wednesday, January 4, 2012, 10:00 AM
 |
The beginning of Bertie's acting career
coincided nicely with the expenses regime |
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has followed through on his commitment to streamlining public costs and cutting back on prime ministerial excess, but not in time to prevent former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern from claiming €367,000 in 'expenses' since leaving power in 2008.
The move will see a cutback in a wide range of formerly claimable 'expenses', which could be sought back by former heads of state: computer equipment, telephone costs and airport VIP facilities, are just some of the 'administrative' expenses
cited by the Irish Times as having gotten the axe.
News-aggregation service
TheJournal.ie reports that the cuts also extend as far as personal cell-phones and (the main cutback) secretarial assistants.
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The end of the former Taoisigh's administrative expenses entitlement has also thrown up some interesting figures on who claimed the most under the bizarre regime: the main culprit, unsurprisingly, is Bertie Ahern -- last seen, as
Irish Central reports, hiding in a cupboard for a tabloid newspaper advert -- who managed to bill the long-suffering taxpayer a smashing total of €367,000 for 'secretarial' expenses incurred since he made an ignoble departure from public office-holding in 2008.
Bertie's spending, according to the
Times was: €75,000 in 2008, €114,000 in 2009, €107,000 in 2010 and €71,000 last year, although an itemized breakdown unfortunately doesn't appear to be forthcoming.
Other claimants under the scheme - not availed of by every former head of state - include Brian 'Biffo' Cowen, who has billed us for a comparatively meager €32,000 since (also) leaving office ingloriously in 2010; the late Dr Garret FitzGerald, who claimed €30,000; Albert Reynolds, who led the country as far back as 1994, who claimed €25,000, and John Bruton, the most modest expenses-seeker, last in office in 1997, at €16,000.
The total claimed, and paid out by the Department of the Taoiseach, came to a whopping €1.16m. The scheme was introduced at the end of the brown-envelope-pushing Ahern regime, which ended in 2008, at which time 'Bertie' re-directed his efforts to sports columns and cupboard-hiding, although he was apparently still happy to claim the generous entitlements.
Despite knowing the broad range of the figures, and the biggest claimants, we have little idea what, exactly and in what amounts, the taxpayer's money was spent on.
Brian Cowen apparently billed us for a computer system worth €2,000 (whether this was merely a very lavish desktop, or had some State function, is not stated, but the former seems a safer bet), while some of the money (€4,000) went on the now cancelled provision of VIP facilities at all three of the Republic's international airports.
However it remains clear that at a time of unprecedented austerity measures for the Irish populace, the vast bulk of the money, paid entirely and unfairly out of the public purse, remains unaccounted for, and pending further Freedom of Information probing, may well stay that way.
The move follows the popular elimination of the (now revoked) right to a State car upon retirement, which was abolished last year.
Former cuts, it can be expected, may follow.
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5 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.noeldoyle | Jan 12, 2012, 12:08 AM EST
While Enda and Eamonn are playing to the masses by reducing claimable expenses for former taoisigh - THEY ARE STILL CLAIMING HUGE EXPENSES FOR THEMSELVES. Do they really need to be transported in a Mercedes or similar luxury cars? Surely, a Ford Mondeo, Opel Insignia, Skoda Superb, VW Passet or similar - all very desirable cars especially in Diesel versions should suffice. Over to you Enda and Eamonn!
IrelandNorth | Jan 04, 2012, 05:44 AM EST
Probably well timed to deliberately miss hitting Bertie for his windfall. As my dear mother used to say, Lord rest her, "No matter who you vote for, the politicians always win." After their amateur dramatic perfomances in the Dail puppet theatre, they all repair to the subsidised bar and restaurant to engage in back-slapping bonhomie.
bailtone | Jan 03, 2012, 07:54 PM EST
If the IMS are in doing the books and dictating to the present government how to run the country, what are we doing with a government in place that is costing the tax payer Millions why not leave the present IMS Brains of Europe run the country until all our BE; Be; Bertie loans are payed off. May be its jobs for boys at the end of the day. We must be the laughing stock of Europe. If Angela Merkel was in charge of the last government I could see all of them in the gas chamber by now.
jimmy12003 | Jan 03, 2012, 05:30 PM EST
there will be no justice ontil that tr-amp bertie ahern is hanging from a bridge over the liffey!
RockNReel | Jan 03, 2012, 10:10 AM EST
Bertie and his cohort Cowen will go down in history as being responsible for the downfall of a good nation of people. Greed and cronyism was their stock in trade and one was as bad as the other. Crooks both of them but they managed to get out without landing in prison---which is where both of them should be today. They left a bad taste on Irish politics and it will take decades to wipe away the stain they left on Ireland.