The Houses of the Oireachtas and expenses relating to the European Parliament will cost £33.5 million next year, down 15 per cent on 1997. Administration costs will account for a third of the total but, at an estimated £11.5 million in 1998, will be 20 per cent lower than this year.
Some of the biggest reductions are under the heading of secretarial assistance for non-office holders. In the Dail, the estimate is down 39 per cent to £3.6 million, while in the Seanad it drops 40 per cent to £610,000.
The televising of Dail and Seanad proceedings will cost just under £1.18 million next year, down from just over £1.5 million in 1997.
