Centre Party’s Filibuster To Cost Taxpayers 40 Million ISK

Last June’s 134-hour filibuster by the Centre Party created so much extra work for parliamentary staff that a new bill has had to be introduced in order to cover the costs, RÚV reports.

Like most other workplaces, Parliament does have its own working hours, and those asked to stay longer are paid overtime. The continuous filibustering by the Centre Party necessitated many members of Parliamentary staff to work overtime, which in this case was double their usual pay.

As such, the budget for paying these workers is short 40 million ISK, and so a special bill has had to be introduced that can cover these costs.

In total, 3,000 hours of overtime were put in because of the Centre Party’s gambit to block the adoption of the Third Energy Package, and there was not enough parliamentary staff to cover all necessary duties.

Passage of the bill to pay these workers is expected to pass.