A GoPro camera, an €89 photo of Eamon Gilmore... and €60K in phones

Revealed: The €1.45m Oireachteas spend on goods f iled under ‘Misc’

Bizarre expenses to keep the Dáil running...

TAXIS to Dundalk and Gorey costing up to €173 a pop, a framed photograph of former Tánaiste and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore costing €90 and even a GoPro camera worth €1,085 – these are just some of the added extras taxpayers have been paying for to keep the Dáil and Seanad running.

They are part of €1.45m in miscellaneous spending by the Houses of the Oireachtas in the space of just one year, and are separate to the lavish salaries, expenses, and pensions TDs and senators already collect. They include more than €46,000 on taxis.

Because of late sittings, the Oireachtas pays for long-distance cabs to get staff home if they finish after 10pm. However, one journey for a member of staff of The Journal, the official record of parliamentary debates, cost as much as €173, after a late sitting, and the destination for the trip was not given.

A taxi home to Dundalk for a staff member who worked on broadcasting Oireachtas proceedings cost €153, in November 2016, while another member of the broadcast unit travelled to Gorey, Co. Wexford, for €141 in February 2016, according to the records.

Of the €46,000-plus spent on taxis that year, around 60% was on superintendents’ staff, including ushers and service officers, who also perform security duties.

The Oireachtas said: ‘The regular late sittings of the Houses accounts for taxi costs… prices are based on regulated fares and are inclusive of a discounted contract rate.’ It said ‘premium rates’ apply to all taxis taken between 8pm and 8am.

A framed photo of Eamon Gilmore cost €89, and while the printout itself came to a costly €34, the frame made up the bulk of the price at €55. The Oireachtas said framed photos of all former tánaistí are displayed in Leinster House, but only after they had retired as a TD or senator.

The Oireachtas said that the GoPro camera and equipment – costing €1,085 – were bought to ‘provide time lapse footage of significant projects, [including] restoration of Leinster House [and the] relocation of Seanad Éireann to temporary accommodation’.

Just over €7,800 was spent on staff mobile phone purchases with six iPhones for the Communications Unit costing €4,254. A phone was also bought for the then Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett at a cost of €399. Pest control cost €4,263, according to the records, with €900 spent per quarter on a contract to keep the complex clear of vermin.

A fly infestation in the Leinster House 2000 extension also had to be dealt with, which set the taxpayer back another €172.

More than €30,000 was spent on telephone allowances for politicians who are the chair Oireachtas committees or work as party whips. These are worth up to €1,100 annually depending on the position.

They are paid in addition to the salaried allowances of between €3,000 and €16,288 that whips and chairs are paid on top of their normal wages each year. More than half a million euro was handed out through what is known as the constituency office establishment allowance.

This is paid to new TDs to cover the costs of setting up a new office and is worth €8,000; it can only ever be claimed once.

A further €60,000 was spent on what’s termed the direct purchase scheme, whereby TDs and senators can get mobile phones bought for them. It is worth up to €750 and can be claimed every 18 months by each politician to cover phone purchases, car kits, insurance, and other miscellaneous expenses.

A total of €4,100 was spent on paper cups and the Oireachtas said this covered the cost of providing 120,000 cups at water coolers throughout the campus for visitors and staff. Just over €2,400 was spent on a stock of gifts for visiting dignitaries, including €480 for engravings and €326 on cufflinks.

‘The Ceann Comhairle is expected to exchange gifts with diplomatic and other visitors to the Houses and a stock of items is kept for such occasions,’ said the Oireachtas. Around €17,000 was spent on official launches and events, according to the records.

That included €842 for a reception for the launch of the banking inquiry, €777 on a lunch for new members, and €694 for the launch of An Caighdeán Oifigiúil, the official stylebook for spelling and grammar of the Irish language.

Furniture bills during the year came to €146,000 with almost €17,500 paid out for 22 new desks for staff; €2,974 for a security desk with an ‘oiled oak finish’; and €1,230 for a giant Ireland flag measuring 1.4 metres by 2.7 metres.

Framed photos of all ex-tánaistí are displayed A total of €4,100 was spent on paper cups