New Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras certainly surprised the ministers at the very first cabinet meeting of his coalition government. He announced a 30% cut in their salaries and advised them to reduce the use of vehicles to a necessary minimum. Further, he suggested they should refrain from unnecessary presence in television channels and from showing opinion difference among the cabinet ministers. “Certainly not every day on the TV screen if there is no reason,” Samaras said .
He stressed that he wants reinstall the trust between the citizens and the politicians. “We have to make the difference from the beginning,” Samaras stressed.
“Samaras is determined to impose a different model of power and administration,” newspaper To Vima commented.
PS How much a minister earns? hm…. I’ll check it out.
Reduce use of vehicles? No! Give them a monthly pass for public transport, so they can REALLY get in touch with the Greek public which they are supposed to serve, and appreciate what ordinary people have to deal with every day.
30%??? hmmm they’ll find another way to errrrr… steal… ops! that’s not the word I’m looking for. Ummmm… procure the funds. Whew! Yes, thats a better word. See KT? I’m learning diplomacy from you! 😀
‘they will find another way to make productive use of the available funds’ hahaha
Yes Master!!! execellent!!! LOL 🙂
ahahahah
This 30% cut MUST bring Ministers income to a level where they will really experience a taste of austerity but dont worry too much – they still have access to 0% loans…….
Below is current information pertaining to the salaries, perks and expenses of Greek politicians.
Greek Reporter published these figures, citing information from German newspaper Bild. Quoted in full, Greek politicians receive:
•MP’s salary: 8594 euros per month
•Supplementary salaries during Christmas (500 euros), Easter (250 euros) and vacations (250 euros)
•4 secretaries and 1 consultant
•3300 euros per year for using 4 telephone lines
•Free transferring on trains, buses and ships
•Up to 60 free of cost flights for MP coming from district areas
•1000 euros allowance per month for housing
•Interest free loans
•All Members of Parliament over 65-years-old receive not only pension but also compensation.
•Members of Parliament can receive a pension after a 4 year tenure.
•Members of Parliament can partially deny to give information about their property
Additional goodies reaped by Greek politicians as reported by the Irate Greek are:
MPs further receive an allowance for participating in parliamentary committee meetings. The allowance currently stands at €150 per MP per meeting. There were 34 active committees and subcommittees in parliament from 04/10/2010 to 30/09/2011 that held a total of 740 meetings with a total of 761 members. The total cost to the taxpayer was €4,725,600. Each MP earned on average €15,752 from participating in committees over a one-year period
The MPs’ per diem when on official travel abroad is €150. All MPs get to stay in 5-star hotels when abroad.
A day-care centre for MPs’ children whose cost is entirely covered by parliament and which employs 20 people.
The prime minister, deputy prime ministers, ministers, deputy ministers, speaker of parliament and leader of the main opposition party further receive 20-40% of salary for representation costs (equating to between €778 and €1,556 per person per month on top of their regular pay.
Based on these figures the Greek political leaders are raking it in nicely during their endless meetings in which little of any substance is ever achieved.
Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/319313#ixzz1yVY7Y05i
wow! love my co-operative blog, when administrators are either lazy or have no time to make research!
Just disgusting. This should be a public debate. Doubtless, the useless Greek newspapers and TV will do and say nothing.
Debate, what debate? This is daylight robbery and should be stopped immediately, with those having received this kind of “rewards” over the last 15 years forced to pay it all back. After all, all that happened during that time was driving the country into the ground. But this is not uncommon. Again, Tsipras was right. It’s a European problem in need of a European solution. I’m just wondering, seeing that they all have free access to buses, trains and ships, why do they need a fancy car paid for by us? With driver of course.
And a few other observations. Do these poor devils not get compensated for the use of mobile phones? The rules our antiquated if it’s only telephone lines and should be updated immediately.
And what happens to their laundry? The Irish MPs gave themselves a perk of nearly 4000€ a year for “laundry” services. Or would that be for laundering money? Do Greek MPs have to vouch for “expenses” with receipts and invoices, or is is just on their word that they get paid?
And surely, the 150€ a day while travelling abroad is on top of the cost of the hotel, no? And as the hotel comes with meals etc. what the hell do they need the pocket money for?
What does a 65+ MP need to be compensated for over and above his/her pension? And how much is the compensation? And….
Plenty of research needed here if something is going to be done about this.
As usual Guest, as usual. That’s why I posted it in my f/book account. Have over 2000 friends and asked them to pass it around. Not much but perhaps better than nothing at all 🙁
Does anyone have any information on the salaries of German and French politicians. Believe me they earn a lot more. Than the Finish, Greek or Irish MP’s.
The German people know that just after a 3 to 4 year tenure in office the politicians receive a lifetime pension of about 60% to 70% of their salary. So imagine a young politician at age 30 after 4 years receiving a lifetime pension from the age of 34. Yes this is in Germany.
!!!
Well, 30% sudden reduction is at least a good if symbolic action.
Here in Italy we have very similar figures and benefits, and our politicians are still debating on what a reasonable cut would be…
If they are also MPs they collect the MP salary as well don’t they? When I was working for a minister, who was not even elected but appointed as an MP he was collecting both salaries and both expenses and had both sets of benefits. He had a few cars, all luxury, with a driver and security detail as a minister, and another set as an MP. His wife would be driven throughout Athens in a new Mercedes E200 along with at least one police officer to do her shopping. He was such a pompous neurotic twit!
In Finland MP salary is 6335 EUR without seniority extras. There is 200 of them in the parliament. Tax free allowances depend on location, 987 to 1809 EUR per month. This is supposed to cover domestic travel and second house cost, and compensate for the fact that they don’t get daily allowance when travelling for work, unlike finnish employees in general.
They can use taxi, train and domestic flights freely. Finnish media follows pretty closely usage of this benefit, data is made available to public.
They can hire one assistant for 2244 EUR per month taxable plus travel and meals costs. According to media source total cost of assistants was 6.5 Million Euros for 2010.
Compared to these figures Greek parliament appears pretty bloated.
our politicians have the noble task to create jobs lol
It’s even worse than you think. All deputies with tenured university posts retain their full uni salary for doing nothing at all, as well as taking the Parliamentary salary. This is an extra 2-3,000 a month.
Greece is a country of political corruption