A total of 20,203 euro is spent per month by the Greek parliament for each of its elected members: MP compensation, several open and hidden benefits, additional income through participation in committees as well as operational costs for their offices make it an expensive hobby for thousands of Greeks suffering under austerity, hiked taxes and unemployment.
While the lowest wage for the common mortal Greek is 450 euro per month and unemployment allowance a tip fo 360 euro for the period of one year only, a member of the Greek parliament cost the Greek taxpayer 673 euro per day!
As Prime Minister Antonis Samaras plans to cut some of these outraged benefits of our 300 Golden Boys and Girls, the whole cost has been leaked to the press, As if Samaras was thinking he would not receive the public’ support. Last week new parliament speaker Vangelis Meimarakis said, “We have to cut waste and unnecessary luxuries. We must rethink of the privileges that create negative impressions. ”
THe MPs compensations are adjusted to the Greek judges.
1) MP Compensation: 7,500-8,000 euro/month gross
According to Article 1 of the Seventh Resolution of the Fifth Revisionary Parliament (02.18.1975) shall be entitled to compensation equal to the sum of monthly salaries of all kinds of top judicial officer. Today, the compensation for each member is 6000-6500 euro net, about 7500-8000 euros gross.
2) Benefit for office organization: 2263 euro/month
According to the budget of the House in 2012, the amount to be disbursed to cover the specific allowance amounts to 8,146,900 euro or 2,263 euros per month per MP. This sum includes the mailing costs, ie the cost to send letters to voters.
3) Transport Allowance: average 473 euro/month
The transportation allowance received by each MP per month ranged from 364 to 607 euros depending on the mileage of the MP’s constituency.
4) Private MP car: average 975 euro/month
The Parliament Foundation pays for each MP a luxury car to a leasing company. According to the latest cuts, the MP from Attica are entitled to a car of 1,400cc for 750 euro per month. MPs from the several regions of Greece are entitled to car of 1,800 cc and 1,200 euro.
5) Rent allowance: 1,000 euro/month
This allowance is received by MPs from regions outside Attica prefecture. For this reason, the Parliament cooperates with several hotels. Cost per month 1,000 euro. If an MP want to rent an apartment, he/she receives the 1,000 per month.
6) Free Telephone Calls: 917 euro/month
MPs are entitled to free telephones. The annual cost of the Parliament for each MP is 11,000 euro. MPs from regions outside Attica are entitled up to eight telephone lines, and those of Attica up to seven.
7) Free Mobile: 200 euro/month
In addition to the fixed telephone MPs are entitled to free mobile device. The Parliament covers accounts up to 200 euros per month, the rest has to be paid by the MP.
8) Air-Tickets: 875 euro
An MP from regions outside the area of the Greek capital is entitled to a total of 104 flights/air-tickets per year. According to modest estimations, the total cost is 10,000-11,000 euro per year.
9) Two scientific councellors: 4,500 euros/month
Each MP is assigned to have four employees and two policemen. Two employees are relocated by other public sector departments, they are paid by their employers service. The other two employees, so called ‘scientific advicors’, are chosen by the MP and are paid by the Parliament. An average of 2,000-2,500 euros for each employee. That would make 300×4=1,200 employees. Parliament employees received a flat compensation of 45 overtime work hours.
10) Social security for MPs and their Families: 350 euro/month
According to Parliament’s budget for 2012, the total amount to cover these benefits amounted to 1,062,000 euros or 350 euros for each member per month.
+1) Compensation for participation in parliamentary committees (summer months incl): Average 1.150 euro/month
The planned cost is 2,875,000 euros. On the average, each MP receives an extra of 1,000 euro per month as compensation for participation in various committees (150 euro per committee meeting). MPs working in the parliament during the summer months (mid July until first Monday of October) get a special compensation [for working in summer while other go for a swim...]. Each session of the Parliament in the summer months is considered as committee-participation and gives the MP an extra of 150 euro. The total amount they receive in summer months is 1,500 euro. ( Proto Thema, Zougla.gr and others)
According the Greek media, the government considers to cut by 50% the allowances for rents and offices, by 100% the committees compensation and to close down the Parliament TV, that costs the tax payer 6 million euro per year. The cuts are to occur in the context of Samaras government seeking ways to save 11.5 billion euro as dictated by the government.
Reaction
After the benefits and allowances of the MPs were published by several Greek media over the weekend, Gerasimos Giakoumatos, MP of Nea Dimocratia, sent his compensation bill to news-portal zougla.gr: 8,267.12 euro gross per month, 5,780 euro net.
Not bad at all, if you consider the free phone, the free car and the other frees…
Cutting the Gym
In an effort to show that the Greek parliament will proceed to deep cuts in order to avoid the citizens’ outrage, parliament speaker Meimarakis decided to close the sports facilities of the available to MPs. However, Zougla.gr reported that the facilities are in a building that belongs to the parliament (no rent payment) and that the coaches are civil servants who will get pad whether they work or not.
and they are going to save this country?
yes. they need money to save the country lol
Jesus! It sounds just like Portugal!!!
from what I know about Portugal, I bet it does hehe!
It’s a semi-peripheral country syndrome, unfortunately. I think Ireland is less bad because they tended to copy the British things, while also fighting for independence from them.
After 800 years of ransacking the place, it would take a Sassenach to declare things not “too bad” in Ireland because we copied all things British 🙂
Things are every bit as bad there as they are in Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy, etc. The Irish politicians and trade unions are just a good deal better at hiding the situation from the still extremely gullable Irish people, and the Irish politicians are also extremely good at brown-nosing those who think they matter.
They have just managed to convince the Irish people to give away their voting rights (and their children’s voting rights, and their children’s…) because it was making life too difficult for the EU…
the latest “measure” is internship where multinatinals end up paying university graduates and post graduates the princely sum of €50.00 a week, with no guarantees, rights, social protection, etc. A 1 bedroom flat in Dublin (where most of these “jobs” are) will cost you on average €250 a week. You can do the sums…
Emmigration is running at it’s highest level ever, with a complete generation missing in many towns around the country. the difference this time? Those that leave all say the same thing (as I did), we’re not coming back. The final brain drain, and EU wasteland nr 1 nearing completion.
Ah ok, I had no delusions about the 800 years 🙂 I did think though that the politicians were less crooked than you say. Sad…
sometimes I think the Greek politicians are primary schools kids compared to the shower over. But then, some times…
the brits has their own scandal with MP expenses. some of them were claiming for thousands of pounds for their gf houses. or for duck houses on their lakes. and so on. MP corruption and overprevilege is everywhere.
sure it is a global phenomenon. but this here is not corruption. this is legal reality, ‘laws’ approved by themselves for themselves.and the cuts they plan are bags of peanuts, when compared to the cuts the citizens suffer.
Here is the breakdown for the hard working MP is Ireland. The figures are supplied by the the governemnt. Read and Weep. Austerity is obviously only for those who deserve it…
http://thestory.ie/2010/06/02/td-expenses-2005-to-2008/
never ending learning lol
Indeed. One of them claimed 80,000€ travel expenses and lives literally a 2 minute walk from Parliament. Another one claimed something like 30,000€ travel expenses and declared himself to be a very responsible citizen because he used the train instead of the car. Commendable. What he didn’t say is that as a senior citizen, parliamentarian or not, he is entitled to free use of the public transport system in Ireland, including trains…
The big problem in Ireland is that expenses do not have to be vouched, iow, no receipts. A simple note saying a blew 80,000 on travel this year is all it takes. No questions asked.
Corrupt politicians are unfortunately everywhere.
The art of the politician is to create confusion.
The tool of the politician is legislation.
The purpose of the politician is to use legislation to create an environment of confusion in which his masters, the faceless elite, can operate anonymously, without control or accountability, for the sole purpose of enriching themselves.
The intent of the politician is to receive disproportionate payment by any means for creating that environment in which his elite masters can profit enormously from his art, while those conned into believing they will benefit from his art have their freedom, their dignity, their everything taken from them to pay for the elite’s unsatisfiable greed.
The duty of the politician, imposed on him by his elite masters, is to maintain this system of exploitation through the effective use of the tool of legislation.
The dream of the politician is to become one of the elite.
The reason for the politician’s existence is the inability of the people to demand and implement a basic degree of honesty and morality.
Today’s politician is yesterday’s slave master. Today’s financial institutions are yesterday’s slave owners. Today’s parliaments are yesterday’s slave markets.Today’s legislation is yesterday’s slavers’ whip.
No vouched? probably blessed by God, then.
no, the tax payer. Vouching was sort of mentioned a while back, but deemed impractical…
That’s the place where Stournaras has to start looking for his 11.5 billion that he’s searching for now! Should give him a ring, he probably never thought of that. Gosh, cutting down cost can be soooo easy lol