Double-jobbing DUP minister slates Sinn Féin minister's one-off payment to lowest-paid

» Mark Moloney

'The only disgrace here is Sammy Wilson's attitude to low-paid workers'

ASSEMBLY Finance Minister Sammy Wilson's branding of a one-off £250 payment for low-paid education workers as “disgraceful” has been described as “bizarre” by Sinn Féin. Wilson takes salaries for being an MLA and MP.

The DUP double jobber was reacting to a move by Sinn Féin Education Minister John O'Dowd to grant an extra payment of £250 to staff earning less than £21,000 per year.

Wilson called the move a “disgraceful populist exercise”.

Reacting to Wilson's carping, Sinn Féin MLA Chris Hazzard said:

“The only disgrace here is Sammy Wilson's attitude to low-paid workers. With the present economic climate of austerity and pay freezes, the gesture by the Education Minister to grant a one-off payment of £250 to the lowest-paid staff was a practical step in fending off poverty for many people.”

Hazzard also said the comments showed just how out of touch with working-class communities the DUP is.

“The people in receipt of these monies are grateful that they have a minister who lives off an average industrial wage and understands the plight they find themselves in as opposed to the huge sums that Sammy Wilson receives as minister, MLA and MP.

“Maybe if Sammy came down from his ivory tower once in a while he would see the devastation being caused by the recession and his inability to embrace ideas to help move the North out of recession.”