Claims scandal
and on the phone.” There is no doubt many of our politicians are doing great work in the middle of a national emergency and the Trojan efforts of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and ministers like Simon Harris and Simon Coveney must be applauded.
But the system has allowed all TDS and Senators to claim full expenses for travel and accommodation without having to make their way to Dublin often or stay in hotels while there. The TAA is calculated based on the distance you live away from Leinster House, with those in the capital nearest the Dail getting €9,000.
It is the staggered depending on how far you live away, with 12 bands of payments for TDS all the way up to €34,065 if your home is more than 360kms from Leinster House.
This means a sitting TD who is in band 12 has
TD Brid Smyth
A usually busy square in Madrid is empty
I’M sure many of you are beginning to relate to how I’m almost going stir-crazy as I fast approach my first month of a total lockdown in Spain.
But Ireland, mercifully, isn’t experiencing the same level of fear you get from being in a country where huge numbers are dropping like flies.
The death toll here is 12,418 and 130,759 cases.
Since March 14, I’ve only been permitted to go food shopping or to the pharmacy. There’s no luxury of being allowed to get some fresh air.
But going outside is the last thing on your mind considering there were 800-plus deaths every day last week.
It’s been difficult to buy food online with websites busy or crashing.
I was lucky to get a home delivery after a week of trying non-stop, but it arrived with many essential items missing, which defeats the purpose.
I somehow found a local fruit shop doing deliveries and – this might sound bananas – was over the moon to taste fresh apples and oranges.
I was forced to venture out for the first time since the lockdown began when I ran out of toilet paper.
This simple task of food shopping was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.
And I say this as someone threatened twice by senior Irish gangland figures.
I only made my “mercy mission” when I noticed a sudden heavy downpour meant the large crowd outside my local supermarket had received €8,516.25 for the three months of January, February and March, or €2,838.75 a month.
The Dáil has only formally sat on February 20, March 5, 19 and 26, which equates to €2,129.06 for each of those days.
A spokeswoman for the Houses of the Oireachtas confirmed to the Irish Mirror the full payments have been made to politicians for January, February and March.
She said: “TAA is an annual allowance which we pay monthly.” vanished for the first time in weeks. Thankfully the store was well stocked and I was able to buy what I needed.
I only realised when I got home I was physically trembling from fear.
It’s times like this you appreciate that normality is truly a luxury in life.
Irish people should count their blessings if they are able to continue exercising outside for the duration of this horrendous pandemic.
As someone who likes to run five times a week, I feel like a hamster trapped in a cage without his wheel.
But I didn’t have any sympathy for the jogger I watched being dragged, screaming and shouting into a police car when the lockdown first began.
It’s selfish and irresponsible for anybody to disobey the rules being put in place to save us all.
With the military visible on the streets in Spain, this is not a lockdown but more like Martial law.
George Orwell’s Big Brother is truly alive and well in Spain with the police monitoring everybody by CCTV or with drones flying overhead.
They’ve a zero tolerance approach
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Up to 25km 25-60km 60-90km 90-120km 120-150km 150-180km 180-210km 210-240km 240-270km 270-300km 300-330km 330-360km Up to 360km
€9,000 €25,295 €27,315 €28,665 €29,669 €30,015 €30,350 €30,685 €31,365 €32,035 €32,715 €33,395 €34,065
Man wears mask while walking on street
to breaking the quarantine and there was 180,387 fined and 1,534 arrested in the first two weeks.
The heavy punishments being dished out are from €601 up to €30,000 and/or even prison sentences up to one year.
Tensions are inevitably running high in some places but for the most part there is a great spirit of togetherness.
Everybody steps out onto their balconies at 8pm to offer doctors and nurses a thunderous applause.
We all even went out for a second time the other night to clap children for being good little boys and girls while cooped up.
Those brave souls working in pharmacies held a minute’s silence last Wednesday for eight colleagues who’ve died so far, with another 276 in quarantine.
The original 15-day lockdown here has been extended to April 25 with the Spanish PM admitting it could be even longer still.
I fear we won’t taste freedom again until at least June.
I can imagine many people will be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder when this ordeal is all over.
It’s so mentally strenuous that I find it hard to read and my mind wanders when I try to watch TV.
I twist and turn in bed most nights and I’m lucky if I can sleep four hours.
I wake up every morning feeling like I’m in a nightmarish version of Groundhog Day. I hope for all our sakes a vaccine is discovered soon.
€5,250 €20,795 €22,815 €24,165 €25,169 €25,515 €25,849 €26,184 €26,865 €27,534 €27,534 €28,895 €29,565
€6,300 €22,011 €24,435 €26,055 €27,260 €27,675 €28,076 €28,478 €29,295 €30,098 €30,915 €31,731 €32,535