TDs paid €6m in expenses since March

TDS HAVE been paid about €6 million in unvouched and vouched expenses since the 31st Dáil first sat in March.

Details of travel and accommodation expenses and an allowance known as the public representation allowance are published monthly on the Oireachtas website, with the figures for December 2011 added yesterday.

Close to €600,000 was claimed by the deputies in the final month of last year. The expenses payments are in addition to an average TD’s salary of €92,672.

Previously the information on expenses had to be obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. A new expenses regime was introduced in March 2010 to replace the old system under which the 166 TDs were paid mileage and overnight allowances for each trip claimed.

Under the new scheme, a parliamentary standard allowance paid to TDs has two strands: the travel and accommodation allowance and the public representation allowance.

Members can opt for the public representation allowance to be vouched or unvouched. The allowance can cover office rent, rates, utilities, insurance, improvements and cleaning. It can also cover telephone calls, computer costs including “web hosting”, distribution of leaflets, advertising and conference attendance.

The travel and accommodation allowance covers the costs of travel to and from Leinster House, accommodation where applicable and, for TDs only, constituency travel. Members must attend a minimum of 120 days annually to receive full payment of the allowance.

The annual amounts range from €12,000 for Dublin-based deputies to €37,850 for those living 360km or more from Leinster House. Senators are paid a reduced amount.

The rates for expenses remains the same as under the previous administration. A spokesman for the Oireachtas said a review of the expenses regime was under way. “Given the significant level of change introduced by the new system, it was considered appropriate at the time of its introduction to review the system after its first year of operation. The Oireachtas is now honouring that commitment. The review into Members’ allowances is being conducted by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in conjunction with the Houses of the Oireachtas Service,” he said.