Election candidate Tim Jackson
INDEPENDENT General Election candidate Tim Jackson has launched his general election campaign by calling for TDs salaries to be halved.
Addressing supporters in Ballybofey, Jackson said: “The way forward my friends is this: we must elect leaders who will serve and not take, who will act and not hide, who will speak and not lie. It’s time to Clean Up Politics, not only tackling TDs’ enormous pay that makes power so dangerously lucrative, but also electing leaders on the content of their character and saying “Goodbye” to the career class politicians who are holding this country back.”
Asked about his focus on the political system, he said that “bad leaders make bad decisions and the overall dysfunction in society is largely caused by politicians who are more interested in climbing the career ladder than effecting the real changes that are needed for Ireland to build a sound economy with the services its citizens need.”
Too many TDs, he said, “will not do the right thing when it comes to voting on legislation, simply because they won’t stand up to the party leader and jeopardise their career in the party. So we have to take the massive financial incentives out of politics, and TDs might be more likely to work and vote for the common good of society. For example, no TD who was truly interested in representing the people would have voted for protecting junior bondholders and loading billions of euro of debt onto the generations to come.”
“And then, election after election, politicians will promise whatever it takes to be re-elected and cling onto their career. So with this election, I’ll be asking all of my fellow candidates to end the culture of perks and privilege for the political classes, starting with pay cuts for themselves. Then we will know who wants the job for the money.”
He says that the five Donegal TDs seeking re-election all turned down Jackson’s request last year for commitment to the Clean Up Politics campaign goals, which are:
– Cut TDs’ salaries from €90k to €45k gross
– Make the expenses system accountable with receipts made available to the public
– Cut current €12m+ taxpayer funding of political parties
– Reduce political pensions to the public service rate
Jackson concluded his address, saying, “I want to be that honest, prudent, selfless leader that joins with you and thousands like us in building a future for Donegal and for Ireland.”
