Politician Gives Entire Salary to Poor

Warning: This might make politicians across the world feel a little uneasy.
The President of South Korea is to donate his entire salary for the next five years to the underprivileged.
And it's not his first time he's done such a thing. When he was mayor of Seoul from 2002 to 2004, Lee Myung-Bak donated his pay cheque to the children of street cleaners and firefighters.
Irish readers might recall that last autumn our Government tied themselves in knots trying to justify their hefty pay rises at a time when belt-tightening was on the horizon.
In the interest of fairness, it must be noted that Korea's President isn't just a goody-two-shoes determined to show up less charitable politicians - he's a millionaire.
He is the former CEO of a construction company and is considerably wealthier than the average politician (the exceptions being New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and the leaders of OPEC nations).
But hang on! There's a better example of ordinary parliamentarians foregoing pay increases. In February, the Labour-led Australian Government announced a self-imposed pay freeze while calling on industry to cool the inflation-stoking salaries of senior management.
Call it a gimmick; call it mere symbolism, they led by example.
With a new round of Social Partnership talks in the offing, could Irish TDs agree to a similar gesture?
If things get tight, I'm sure somebody will give them a 'dig out'...