TDs blocked from running up bar tab
New Dáil rule aims to prevent repeat of unpaid bills
TDs and senators are to be blocked from running up tabs in the Dáil bar and restaurant – unless they agree in advance for their credit cards to be charged or arrange for salary deductions.
The new policy, which aims to stop politicians running up bills that never get paid, is to be introduced by the end of the month.
It’s designed to ensure there is no repeat of last year’s write-off of €5,500 in unpaid bills, most of which was owed to the restaurant. In one case, an ex-politician had a €943 restaurant bill written off, while another had a €301 bar bill binned.
Some politicians and departments have disputed the amounts owed and said the money had been repaid. Up until now, TDs and senators were allowed to get food and drink on credit based on an honour system, then make their repayments later. The new regime was to be introduced on March 1, but delays caused by Storm Emma mean it will now be put in place over the coming weeks.
An information note explaining the changes said: ‘All customers wishing to avail of a credit facility will be required to provide either a credit/debit card payment authorisation or a salary deduction agreement, authorising the Oireachtas service to arrange for any outstanding balances to be charged to their card or deducted from their salary.’
Under the new plan, politicians will be given credit for a maximum of two months, but after this, deductions will be made from their credit card or salary.
The new regime will be in place until the next election when a new ‘formal credit facility’ will be introduced for members. It will be offered to TDs and senators when they first arrive at Leinster House following their election. The Oireachtas said: ‘The granting of a credit facility to a member will be subject to their written agreement to the terms in advance, including their agreement to a method of payment, for example authorisation to have amounts due charged to a credit/debit card, deducted from salary, etc.’
Separately, the Oireachtas has again refused to grant access to the identities of the former politicians who had their debts written off. After an appeal under Freedom of Information law, it however disclosed that two of the six people involved are now dead. It added that the politicians involved would expect that their personal financial details would not be disclosed.
‘I believe that their expectations would be of “total privacy”,’ said the decision letter.
The Oireachtas said it agreed with the argument that publication of the names would make it less likely people would run up debts in future. However, it said it had no guarantee its records were accurate and that it could be the case the TDs and senators involved did not in fact owe money. Its decision said: ‘[The] records are demonstrably unreliable, and the risk of causing damage to innocent parties was the over-riding consideration.’
Later, it added: ‘An important consideration arises in relation to the accuracy or validity of the records in question. As several of the persons to whom the records relate, and several public bodies which have already been named, have disputed the accuracy of these records, there is a real danger that granting access to these records would unfairly affect the good name of innocent individuals.’
Another reason for refusal was that the debt breakdowns were the politicians’ ‘private papers’. This designation was originally introduced to law so TDs and senators could deal with whistleblowers without fear of communications being made public.
‘Expectation of total privacy’