Disappeared Dáil will cost us €5m

TDs may seek concessions on allowance requirements as taxpayers face hefty bill

TDs ARE still being paid travel allowances despite the Dáil having met on only eight occasions since the election in February.

Deputies, ministers and senators still qualify for all allowances that would be available to a functioning Oireachtas.

The cost to the taxpayer is expected to top €5m at the end of next week when they will qualify for the third month of full salaries and expenses.

And this year Oireachtas members are talking about seeking a reduction in the requirements to claim the allowances. Technically, the travel allowance is calculated on an estimated basis of 150 days attendance at Leinster House.

However, in yet another concession members need only register their attendance by fobbing in on at least 120 of those 150 sitting days. But, in an election year, the bar is set even lower as the clock only starts to tick from the day TDs and Senators are elected.

This means that in 2016, despite the extended disappearance of the Dáil and

Seanad due to government formation talks, the number of days required for sign-in was reduced from 120 to 82 for senators and from 120 to 101 for TDs.

It is expected a similar discount will apply to the Dáil and the Seanad for this term.

This will come as a relief to TDs and senators who are still forbidden from fobbing in as part of the coronavirus health and safety strategy.

Typically, a deduction of 1% of the TAA allowance is made for each day below the 120 days attended at the end of the year or relevant period. Despite this concession TDs and Senators are believed to be increasingly nervous about their capacity to fulfil the signing-in criteria.

One source warned: ‘We may need a coronavirus exemption: we have only sat for eight occasions this year and the only time all members were around was to sign the roll.’

If members do not meet the requisite amount of days, they must repay the amount to be refunded within two months of the end of the year or of the relevant period.

The travel and accommodation allowance (TAA) is the most politically questionable part of the €5m bil. It covers costs associated with travel to and from Leinster House, incorporating over-night costs.It also includes constituency travel expenses, but only for TDs. Senators receive no payment toward their constituency travel.

The lucrative travel and accommodation rates are based on the distance from the Oireachtas member’s normal place of residence to Leinster House by the shortest practicable route.

Bands within Dublin come in at a modest €9,000 for TDs and €5,250 for Senators, but the value of the allowance once you leave Dublin rises sharply.

Once beyond 25km, it jumps to €25,295 and €20,795 respectively for TDs and Senators, with the maximum allowance coming in at €34,065 for TDs and €29,565 for Senators.

As the Dáil and Seanad head for a third month of political stalemate, TDs have not lost out financially.

Despite the failure of the Dáil to form a government for three months, the current 160 TDs will, by the end of next week, have been paid:

Three instalments of Travel and Accommodation Allowances

Three months’ salary from February 8 until May 8

Ministers will have received their sixth fortnightly ministerial allowance. Senior ministers earn an annual allowance of €79,510 while juniors earn €38,787. Ministers in receipt of the allowance include three who lost seats – Shane Ross, Katherine Zappone and Regina Doherty – and 10 of 19 junior ministers who either retired before the election or lost their seats.

The salary payments to TDs will,

‘We have only sat for eight occasions this year’

when the third tranche is paid, have cost the taxpayer €3.6m.

Payments to ministers will have totalled €370,000 while TAA bills will approximate to a bill of €1.7m.

One senior politician said: ‘It’s a bit like the song by Dire Straits, money for nothing and certainly not for travel and accommodation, but it is also bringing politics into disrepute. If the last Dáil was the do-nothing Dáil this is the disappeared Dáil… well, with the exception of the expenses.’