I think I have read it all now -non job filled by a barrister FINE GAEL.

NOAH

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Oh well it should not surprise us these days
as more and more revelations are made public but this one surely must take the biscuit. A Fine Gael TD's assistant is his partner and also works as a barrister. Apparently this TD preaches the continuance of austerity... he would wouldn't he.

No shame whatsoever. Maybe just maybe he will get his comeuppance.

We failed to get rid of the senate so not much chance of getting rid of more of those non jobs.
 
Should I be surprised ?

There are precedents of TDs emplying family members and friends as parliamentary assistants. What this guy has done (apart from this being the first time I had heard of him ;)) is no different.

And many barristers struggle to get the work for it to be a full-time profession.
 
It is perfectly acceptable and reasonable for TD's to employ family members as assistants. It is those family members who worked for them for nothing while they were trying to become a TD. They can trust them, they know how they like things done and they know the same people within their local community. Family member will also usually work longer hours than contracted. Having a barrister as an assistant sounds like a great idea. I don't know anything about this TD, which is why I asked the OP for a link, but the idea that there's something wrong with employing family members like this doesn't stand up to scrutiny and smacks of begrudgery.
Saying that a job pays "up to" €50'000 per year tells us nothing.
 
Just to clarify, I am not the OP, just provided the link, when I saw the request for it.
I have never heard of this TD before either.
 
She isn't a family member either, she is his girlfriend, and only started working for him last year.
 
I actually can't see what the problem is here and why the publicity.
Surely this can only be an advantage that the constituants and TD get the benefit of her expertise and trust.

Many young professionals work at other jobs to top up their wages. Young teachers who do not have full time hours work in pubs and hotels at weekends
 
I actually can't see what the problem is here and why the publicity.
Surely this can only be an advantage that the constituants and TD get the benefit of her expertise and trust.

Many young professionals work at other jobs to top up their wages. Young teachers who do not have full time hours work in pubs and hotels at weekends
if the job pays up to 50 thousand euro, why in heavens name would you need to top it up!
 
I wont go into too much detail but what he is doing is unethical and wrong. FG came on board with the slogan " Politics is broken etc" Well this guy is doing exactly the opposite of what FG were going to fix. By publicising this carry on there is a chance the electorate will cop on and get rid.
 
I wont go into too much detail but what he is doing is unethical and wrong. FG came on board with the slogan " Politics is broken etc" Well this guy is doing exactly the opposite of what FG were going to fix. By publicising this carry on there is a chance the electorate will cop on and get rid.

Ethics is one of those terms that means different things to different people. The Dáil ha a code of ethics. If this appointment does not breach that code, then how is it unethical or objectively wrong ?

An election promise is just that and anyone who hopes for anything different would do well to 'cop on'.
 
I don't really have a problem with it but I can see why people do. It smacks of the good old days when getting a job depended on who you know rather than what you know. I am sure there are plenty of people out there who would the opportunity offered to this guys girlfriend but weren't. It's not like she is doing the job for cheap and she probably isn't working any harder than someone else would. If a minister started handing out civil service jobs to people he knew because he 'trusted them', there would be uproar and rightly so.
 
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