Up to €1m could be paid to TDs before they even start

THE 32nd Dáil is being dubbed by online wags as the thirty second Dáil – but even if it fails to form a government, those elected to it will be paid handsomely.

Up to €1m could be paid to TDs in salaries and expenses by the time the Dáil returns to try to form a government on March 22.

And no matter what the outcome, each backbench TD who signed the Dáil Roll of Members at the start of the month will get over €5,000 in salaries and a further two grand in expenses and allowances.

A TDs basic salary is currently €87,258 per annum, subject to the TD signing the Roll. From the moment they sign the Roll they are eligible to be paid.

Some members of the 32nd Dáíl signed the Roll of Members on March 1 – the first Tuesday after the election – while others signed the Roll in the days that followed. AntiAusterity Alliance TDs Ruth Coppinger, Mick Barry and Paul Murphy signed the Roll on March 9 – one day before the 32nd Dáil convened for the first time.

Between March 1 and March 22 – when the Dáil convenes for the second time since the election – many TDs will have been paid up to €5,259 despite being idle in that time. The public has been footing the bill for 144 TDs. In total, up to €757,296 will have been paid out by March 22 in salaries and up to €295,056 in expenses. TDs expenses work out at over €34,000 per year per member on average, according to figures recently compiled by the RTÉ Investigations Unit. On those figures, in the 22 days between March 1 and March 22, TDs could claim up to €2,049 in expenses.