Twenty TDs and senators last year received political contributions exceeding the £500 disclosure limit, according to the Public Offices Commission. Nearly 220 others, including all 15 MEPs, reported no donations above the 1997 and 1998 Electoral Acts disclosure limits.
Fianna Fail TD Mr Sean Fleming criticised Fine Gael for not revealing the identities of those who paid for a private opinion poll last June during the Tipperary South by-election.
FF TDs and senators received £44,669; FG members got £25,511; Labour TDs and senators shared £4,876, while Progressive Democrats representatives received £1,729.
Independent TDs and senators and the Ceann Comhairle, Mr Seamus Pattison, received a total of £11,008. Last night, a Leinster House spokesman said Mr Pattison had the use of a constituency office in SIPTU's Kilkenny branch, worth £2,150.
All contributions over £500, in cash, goods, services or property, must be declared. Statements were received from 165 TDs and from 60 senators. All the MEPs submitted declarations. FG MEP/Senator Avril Doyle and Labour TD/ MEP Mr Proinsias De Rossa submitted two because of their dual mandates.
None of the 220 politicians received any donations in excess of £100 from anonymous sources. Under the Acts, it is illegal to make such a donation to a politician, or for them to accept it.
The list includes one from the Taoiseach, who declared a £9,000 benefit from the use of offices paid for by FF headquarters. Mr David Andrews TD had the use of a car, valued at £3,600, from Devlin's Metro and Metro Cabs, 20 Upper Baggot Street, Dublin 2.
Mr Sean Ardagh TD got £14,000 from a dinner organised by the "Friends of Sean Ardagh Committee", including a contribution of £750 from his son, Rory.
Mr Ivor Callely TD enjoyed a £500 mobile telephone from Nokia Ireland and a £1,500 contribution from Eircell. He also had the use of a car, valued at £1,000, from Alfa Romeo, Turnpike Road, Naas Road, Dublin 12.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, received printing worth £1,000 from Printing Facilities, BCR Press, Beechmount Industrial Estate, Navan, while Mr Brian Lenihan TD got £2,200 worth of office supplies from FF's Dublin West CDC.
The full list can be inspected at the Commission's offices at 8 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2, or on its website: www.irlgov.ie/poc
Full details are available on The Irish Times website at: www.ireland.com
