Where is our outrage over lavish payoffs while elderly shiver?

Consider the following headlines from the past couple of weeks - 'Older people going to bed at 7pm to save on fuel bills', 'Kenny still earns more than British PM after pay cut', 'Traveller infant death rates higher', 'Former Govt Sec Gen received €700,000 package'. They say a lot about present-day Ireland, don't they? Take the case of the country's top civil servant, Dermot McCarthy, who retired during the summer. Now, we are sure that Mr McCarthy was a public servant of the highest probity and diligence, but should he be receiving a going away entitlement of €600,000 in lump sum and severance payments? Should this former secretary-general to the government and the Department of the Taoiseach also receive an annual pension of €142,670.50? The figures are based on 40 years of service and a salary of €285,000 (with various cuts and voluntary contributions, his salary at the time of his departure was €200,000). When these details were published, the Department of Finance said that the superannuation arrangements for Mr McCarthy are based on the standard terms applied to secretaries general and added that the lump sum would be taxed. Oh, and the government is said to be considering Mr McCarthy, post-retirement, for the job of Irish ambassador to the Holy See (another €100,000 coming up). Now, take the old folks going to bed at 7pm, something reported by the St Vincent de Paul (SVP) organisation. This, too, is an organisation known for the highest probity and diligence and it wouldn't have made this public statement unless it could back it with facts. The old folks are off to bed early, not because they've just seen Bryan Dobson or Sharon Ní Bheolain read the news and they want to escape 'Nationwide', but because they want to save on rising fuel bills. For Heaven's sake, even the Cistercian monks in Collon wouldn't be going to bed that early! Launching a report on its survey, the society's national president, Mairead Bushnell, said some older people in winter months were going to bed as early as 7pm to save on heating, or are prepared to endure 'Siege of Leningrad' type conditions in winter to avoid having to pay large fuel bills which they cannot afford. The SVP carried out a survey among 600 people and it gives a real insight into the kind of lives they are leading. Besides fuel poverty, the elderly face a lack of public transport, affecting people in both urban and rural areas. Significant numbers of them are undertaking long and stressful journeys to hospitals at great expense because of poor public transport. Loneliness is another of their major problems, and is particularly acute in rural areas where there is less contact with people as a result of declining public services such as post offices and transport links. Now take another survey, this time carried out by the Irish Independent. It found that Taoiseach Enda Kenny still earns more than British Prime Minister David Cameron, even after the Taoiseach cut his salary by €14,000. Britain has a population of 59 million, Ireland has 4.58m. However, Enda's salary is behind that of some other European leaders. German chancellor Angela Merkel earns €242,000. But, then again, she has 82 million people to look after. And Enda is significantly behind US President Barack Obama who earns the dollar equivalent of €276,038. But he has 312 million citizens to who he must answer. David Cameron must be asking his shop steward (Eton educated, no doubt) to enquire why he, as prime minister, earns less than Irish government ministers. Spanish PM Zapatero is also probably in with his union rep right now asking why he is on "only" €92,000. Now take that other headline - 'Traveller infant death rates higher'. These Irish citizens will never reach the salary or pension heights of some other people because they are three times as likely to die in infancy than infants in the general population. The Department of Health survey, with the unwieldy title, 'The Birth Cohort Study Follow-Up of the All-Ireland Traveller Health Study', found that, between 2008-2009, 12 children per 1,000 born into the Travelling community died, compared to 3.2 per 1,000 in the general population. This opinion piece is not based on envy or spite; it is a genuine attempt to point to the injustice and unfair treatment inflicted on many blameless people simply because of their circumstances. So here is another question to be asked about the lavish payments to some of our country's higher-ups: have the Irish people lost their sense of outrage?