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€20K top-up for Keaveney/Blaney 26.10.07
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INISHOWEN Senator
Cecilia Keaveney will receive a €20,000 top up in
her wages this year thanks to her appointment to a
Government commission. |
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And Donegal
backbencher, Deputy Niall Blaney will also boost his
Dáil salary by the same amount after being named
chairman of the British-Irish Interparliamentary
Body.
Senator Keaveney, who lost her Dáil seat in May, has
been appointed to the Oireachtas Commission,
bringing her €60,000 Seanad salary over the €80,000
mark.
However, newlywed Letterkenny T.D., Deputy Jim
McDaid, got nothing in the carve-up.
Deputy Blaney's new post has previously been held by
Foreign Affairs Minister, Dermot Ahern T.D; Minister
for Children |
Brendan Smith T.D. and
Minister of State Pat Carey. It will bring bring his
Dáil salary to more than €100,000.
He said he was honoured to have been appointed to
the position.
“The British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body makes
many very useful and supportive contributions to the
wider political debate in Ireland and Britain across
a range of issues of mutual interests," he said.
“There is no better way to develop mutual
understanding and good relations that through open,
frank discussions and that is what this committee
provides a platform for.”
He said the body had been successful in the past in
debating issues concerning security, the
environment, and agricultural matters.
Its main function is to maintain the contact between
parliamentary colleagues on the two islands.
"Relations between Ireland and Britain are currently
at a historically amicable stage and it is crucial
that these relations are maintained,” he added. |
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