Independent candidate for the Comeragh area, Michael Flynn says his proposal that Waterford county councillors take a 30% pay cut on their gross income is getting a positive response on the doorsteps.
The Rathgormack farmer says that should he get “in excess of 1,100 first preference votes… such a mandate would send a strong signal… that those at the top need to share the pain in pay cuts to get honesty and fairness back into politics.”
Mr Flynn says he’s meeting people “who are very unhappy about the income councillors receive for a part-time job”, which he says amounted to “well in excess of €620 per week” in 2007.
He claims the monies that would be saved by such a move “should immediately mean that development charges be cut by 30% with the view to eliminating this hugely unjust expense on young people building houses.
“Any surplus money should then be used to reduce refuse charges as the countryside is covered with litter and urgently needs to be addressed.”
Asserting that “I am the only candidate offering the voters a voice and the chance to save themselves money by the way they vote at the ballot box,” Mr Flynn says “I believe such a mandate from the people of the Comeragh area would have to be honoured by the other councillors.”
