Political parties were reimbursed a combined total of almost €463,000 by the Oireachtas to cover the cost of increased staffing allocations after the Dáil and Seanad elections.
The parties can hire support staff – who are not civil servants – paid for by the Houses of the Oireachtas under the Scheme for Secretarial Assistance.
The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, the body that runs Leinster House, set out new staffing allocations last summer to reflect the Dáil and Seanad election results.
Minutes of a commission meeting from June 2025 show how it allocated the equivalent of 103 staff at administrative assistant level to 10 parties.
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A points system allows parties flexibility to hire staff of differing levels of seniority on varying pay grades so long as they stay within their points allocation.
Under the new allocations decided by the commission, Sinn Féin was entitled to the equivalent of 32.75 administrative assistant positions.
The allocation is based on its election results but also a system that sees Opposition parties entitled to more staff because the Coalition parties are also supported by Government departments.
Fianna Fáil’s allocation was the equivalent of 24 administrative assistant positions.
The others were: Fine Gael (20); the Labour Party (9.25); Social Democrats (9); Independent Ireland (2.5); People Before Profit-Solidarity (2), Aontú (1.5) and one each for the Green Party and 100% Redress.
In July, the commission considered reimbursement claims submitted by parties whose staffing allocations had increased for people employed during an interim period between the elections and the staffing allocation decision in June.
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Such reimbursements were made during previous Dáils based on supporting documentation.
The commission “noted that claims for the costs submitted by political parties for reimbursement are very substantial and therefore the affordability of any reimbursement must be considered”.
It “agreed that supporting payroll documentation submitted by political parties will be subject to detailed interrogation and verification”.
In October the commission made the decision to reimburse costs.
Fianna Fáil was to get the most: €164,119.13, followed by the Social Democrats (€108,184.70) and Fine Gael (€84,109.66).
Sinn Féin was in line for €60,102.61 and the Labour Party’s reimbursement was to be €46,402.39.
The combined total sum to be reimbursed was €462,918.49.
A Fianna Fáil statement said its claim “was submitted with supporting payroll and approved by the Houses of the Oireachtas”. It said its status as the largest party after the general election where it won “significantly more seats than in the outgoing Dáil” has “a material impact on any monies paid”.
Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and the Labour Party confirmed their respective claims for reimbursement matched the sum approved for payment.
The Social Democrats was unable to respond to The Irish Times query on the matter by Tuesday evening.
The cost of staff hired under the scheme last year will be made public once the parties file their 2025 accounts.
Administrative assistants – the lowest paid staff that can be hired under the scheme – have a starting annual salary of €41,774.
Should all 103 potential roles be filled by the parties the cost to the Houses of the Oireachtas will be at least €4.3 million for a full year.
Fianna Fáil has employed 21 staff under the Scheme for Secretarial assistance.
Sinn Féin said it has 21 full-time and one part-time staff members included under the scheme while Labour said it currently has nine staff employed (eight whole-time-equivalents).
