Dáil bars see profits increase by more than 10 per cent

Profits at the Dáil Éireann bars rose by more than 10 per cent from €104,129 to €115,466 last year. However, the profits were not a result of TDs and Senators drinking more than before.

The figures, released in response to a Freedom of Information request, show that revenues at the Dáil bars last year in fact fell from €285,564 to €275,521, with average revenues of €5,298 per week.

Punters can expect to pay €5 for a pint of Guinness in a Dublin city centre pub and €5.40 for a pint of Heineken. However, TDs, Senators and their guests at Leinster House are charged €4.40 for a pint of Guinness and €4.80 for a pint of Heineken.

A spokeswoman for the Oireachtas said that the increase in profits at the Dáil bar "was due to a tight monitoring of expenses and purchases".

“There was also expenditure on kitchen equipment and bar equipment in 2013 that was not required in 2014. These factors contributed to the small increase in profit.”

Oireachtas restaurants

Business was much brisker at the Oireachtas restaurants, where profits increased by 29 per cent, going from €68,819 to €88,920 last year.

This increase was in spite of revenues at the restaurants declining from €902,262 to €873,642.

Revenues at the Dáil bar were boosted when TDs debated for 40 hours last December on water legislation, with the Dáil bar recording its busiest night of the year and clocking up €7,461 in sales.

This is €563 more than the €6,898 taken in during the busiest night of 2013, which coincided with the all-night sitting for the Government’s Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill in July of that year.

The Dáil sat on until 11.50pm on December 17th, the day of the water legislation debate, and that night the bars sold 301 pints of Guinness and 139 pints of Heineken, Budweiser and Carlsberg.

The following night - the night ahead of the Christmas break - was the second busiest night of the year, with €7,055 taken in.

The third busiest night of the year at the Dáil bars was budget night, where TDs and friends consumed 254 pints of Guinness and 206 pints of lager.

On that night, the Dáil bars generated €6,710 in revenue.

The contents of 73 Guinness kegs were sold last year, compared with 90 kegs in 2013 and 98 kegs in 2012.

There was also a drop in Heineken sales, with the contents of 35 kegs sold in 2014, compared with 41 kegs in 2013 and 44 in 2012.

There are about 90 pints in a keg, confirming the sale of about 6,570 pints of Guinness and about 3,150 pints of Heineken in 2014.