You know, for all the complaining and belly-aching, it makes me glad that I live in a country where justice is meted out as efficiently and effectively as it is here in Ireland. Not a few short weeks ago we were up in arms about TDs expenses and the fact they were, almost to a man, claiming money for all kinds of stuff without having to provide reciepts for anything.

Then we got rid of John O’Donoghue as Ceann Comhairle and now the whole problem is solved. Well, I assume it is because nobody’s talking about it anymore, are they? No. Now it’s Public Service v Private Sector in preparation for the inevitable civil war. It’s teacher against plumber, Garda taking on shop worker, Fireman vs waiter and nurse against hairdresser.

Let’s give credit where it’s due. We couldn’t have this kind of battle if we were all worried and outraged about politicians expenses so big up to the Gubbernment for sorting that out with such alacrity.

When the budget is released in December and we are taxed to the hilt to pay for the mistakes and the greed and the fraud perpetrated on the people of this country by a very small few we’ll be able to take solace in the fact that politicians have led by example. We can be proud that they got their own house in order first before telling us what to do, eh?

What a good example they will set by taking a pay cut. ‘Hey! Look at us. We’re prepared to take a hit … now it’s your turn’, and we’ll know deep in our hearts that they can no longer offset any pay cut by simply bumping up their unvouched expenses. We’ll take comfort, as we munch our freezing cold gruel, that TDs no longer get an extra payment for simply turning up to work, that those overnight stay expenses have been shelved and all the other perks that they enjoyed in boom time have been consigned to history.

We can look the UK where they’re engaged in the costly process of prosecuting some MPs for fiddling their expenses and we can feel sorry for them. Sorry that they don’t have a system like ours. Sorry that they have to go to the bother of finding replacements for those in public office who have systematically defrauded the people they were elected to represent. As we go toe to toe with our defined benefit pension enemies, for once we can look down our noses at the English because we solved all our problems by taking a gammy cloak and a gavel away from one man.

Damn, we’re good.

As more and more details emerge of the funded-by-others lifestyle John O’Donoghue emerge the more untenable his position becomes.

Frankly, he should resign. Not a doubt about it. He has taken the absolute piss, he’s been found out, and no matter what he’s got to say for himself it’s not good enough. Of course there are those who say his appearance in front of the Oireachtas Committee he himself is chairman of is unlikely to be much use to anyone but him. And they’d probably be right.

But isn’t it interesting that the only person calling on him to resign is Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin of Sinn Fein? The Ceann Comhairle must have the support of both sides of the house, so if Kenny and Gilmore stopped fannying around suggesting he should ‘consider his position’ and simply demand his resignation then O’Donoghue, no matter how brass his neck or how big his balls, would be fucked.

They’re not though. The obvious reason, to me at least, is that neither Gilmore or Kenny can be 100% sure that all their party members are not guilty of the same kind of expenses fiddling. How much egg would they have on their faces if they demanded O’Donoghue do the ‘honourable’ thing only to discover one of their own at the same thing? And I’d say the odds on finding more expense fiddling TDs aren’t that long at all.

So while rightly there’s focus on John O’Donoghue at the moment there’s the danger of not seeing the wood for the trees. He should pay the price for his behaviour but he shouldn’t be the only one. There’s the classic example of the Fine Gael TDs, a married couple, who each claimed expenses for an overnight stay in Dublin. Perhaps not against the rules but symptomatic of the culture of entitlement these people have. And it is a culture at every level of politics. Cute hoorism, brown envelopery and back-handers. It has to stop. We shouldn’t have to put up with the likely lads and lassies anymore.

As long as TDs can claim unvouched expenses there will be abuse of the system. I’m sure there are decent politicians who do not gild their own lillies with expenses, but I’m just as sure there are plenty who made up the 10% pay cut they took with expenses claims. And when you don’t have to show reciepts and can claim on a multitude of levels it’s as easy as pie to get quids-in.

The O’Donoghue stuff has taken weeks and weeks of investigation, FOI requests, painstaking research and lots more to expose get to this point. So while I’d love to suggest every single member of Dáil Eireann have their expenses scrutinised the same way it’s probably impossible. Which is a shame.

What has to happen though is a complete review of the expenses system. And not by the Minister for Finance or any other politician. It has to be an independent body. Firstly expenses must be vouched. Every single penny claimed has to be accounted for with reciepts, bills or whatever. No exceptions.

TDs should be made clock in and out of the Dail like factory workers. If they don’t like it, tough shit. They’re paid with our money, they should do what we want, not what they want. Claiming an ‘overnight stay’ in Dublin because the Dail was sitting? Prove you were there.

It needs to look at the list of things that TDs can claim expenses for. I’ve been trying to find a list somewhere but haven’t been able to. I’m quite sure many of them are out of date or frivolous at best. Overhaul it. If you’re paid €160,000+  a year then you buy your own lunch like everyone else. We shouldn’t pay your salary and have to feed you too.

If it means more work for TDs, fine. If it means TDs ending up ‘out of pocket’ because they’ve misplaced the petrol reciept or they forgot to clock in, fine. By any standards these men and women are extraordinarily well paid politicians, the public has an absolute right to know what they do, how they do it, how much it costs them to do it and so on. It is OUR money they’re paid with, after all.

As well as that the expenses they claim each year should be made public without anybody having to make an FOI request or having to pay for the information. And this has to happen quickly, otherwise public mistrust of their elected officials will continue and will worsen. Because as long as the unvouched system continues we can’t trust any of them (bar the very odd one or two who make public their expenses). As long as the unvouched system continues I’m going to think they’re all at it. Why should I think any different?

So while John O’Donoghue is making the headlines you can be sure there are plenty of others biting their nails hoping the surface doesn’t get too scratched. If there was a way of exposing every single on of them I’d be all for it.

Failing that though we have to implement change, a simple solution to a big problem.