THE GOVERNMENT IS today marking 100 days since it took office, a significant landmark in the political world.
The idea of the ‘First Hundred Days’ dates back to the administration of US president Franklin D Roosevelt who carved out a series of remarkable economic and social reforms in his first 100 days in office in response to The Great Depression.
In the programme for government the Fine Gael-Labour coalition pledged to carry out a number of reforms which would help create jobs. Today as Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore hold a press conference to outline their achievements, they are likely to be asked about the pledges that were made in the programme.
Will the numbers add up? TheJournal.ie looks at those ‘First Hundred Days’… in numbers:
8.65 - The amount in euro that the minimum wage was increased to after the Government pledged to reverse the €1 cut imposed by the previous administration in the last budget.
2,000,000,000 – The amount in euro the Government hopes to raise over the next four years to fund its jobs initiative as a result of 0.6 per cent levy it will impose on private pensions.
5,000 – The amount of six to nine month placements in private, public and voluntary sectors that the Government is proposing to create under the national internship scheme that was announced in the jobs initiative.
5,000,000 – The amount in euro that the Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar recently pledged to 25 sustainable transport projects across the country as part of the €75 million the Department of Transport has pledged towards the jobs initiative.
14.8 – The per cent amount that unemployment currently stands at. That’s 0.1 per cent more than when the government took office according to the Central Statistics Office.
2.7 – The per cent amount that the annual rate of inflation currently stands at, a 0.1 per cent increase on May but at a slower growth rate than previously.
5.8 – The per cent amount of interest Ireland is paying on its European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout with government pledges to get a reduction of any sort on this interest rate so far failing to materialise.
14,187 - The amount in euro that the Taoiseach has lost in his annual pay packet as a result of the cut in Cabinet pay he and his ministers voted to impose on their first day in office.
20 – The minimum amount of Garda ministerial car drivers the government will reportedly retain out of the 54 that were there when it took office. The amount retained will be used for former taoisigh attending official occasions, the president, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the minister for justice, the director of public prosecution and the chief justice.
1 – Austere-looking bus that the cabinet took to Farmleigh House last week for the meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council.
2,500,000 – The amount in euro that the State is paying for 27 special advisers to government ministers with still more to be appointed.
12 – Members of the HSE board who resigned in April at the request of Minister for Health Dr James Reilly.
7 – The number of people whose benefits have been cut under legislation introduced in January to encourage people to come off benefits and get back to work, according to the Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton.
15 – The number of Oireachtas committees that now exist after the number was cut from 27 by the Dáil. This means the size of each committee has increased dramatically with some having up to 21 TDs.
597,000,000 - The amount in euro that the Croke Park Agreement on public sector pay and expenditure is reported to have saved so far in its first year, according to Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin, who announced the findings yesterday.
53 – The amount of seconds Minister for Small Business John Perry spent on the phone to Ocean FM before abruptly hanging up when pushed on the issue of restoring cancer services to Sligo General Hospital within the first 100 days of government as he had pledged to do during the election campaign.
175 – The amount in euro a proposed flat-rate water charge may cost households in Ireland per year although the government has insisted it has not decided exactly how much people will have to pay.
30 - the per cent amount of female candidates that political parties in Ireland must run in future elections or else they face losing up to 50 per cent of their funding under new legislation being proposed by Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan.
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