Longford Westmeath's five TDs earn €17,500 in expenses for month when Dáil sat just once

Longford Westmeath's five TDs received over €17,500 between them in expenses for the month of December 2024, a month in which the Dáil sat once. 

Details of the unvouched Parliamentary Standard Allowance (PSA) payments from December have been published. They show that TDs received €567,000 in expenses automatically for the month. Although the Dáil sat just once, the Longford Westmeath TDs attended Leinster House on a number of days in December. 

The Dáil sat on December 18 to elect Verona Murphy to the role of Ceann Comhairle. It did not sit again until January 22 when the election of Micheál Martin as Taoiseach was derailed over the speaking time row.

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The Parliamentary Standard Allowance is an annual allowance paid automatically monthly to members of the Oireachtas, on top of their €113,000 a year salary. The PSA is made up of the travel and accommodation allowance (TAA) and public representation allowance (PRA).

The public representation allowance covers costs associated with members’ work as public representatives — such as office rental and leaflet printing.

The figures released this week show that Minister of State Kevin 'Boxer' Moran received €4,168.25 in Parliamentary Standard Allowance for December, while Deputy Micheál Carrigy received €4,084.58, Deputy Sorca Clarke and Minister of State Robert Troy each received €3,972.08, with Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke receiving €1,333,33. In total, the five local TDs received €17,530.32. 

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TDs are entitled to claim between €9,000 and €34,065 a year in travel and accommodation expenses, depending on the distance between their home and the Dáil with different bands based on distance to the Dáil set out. 

TDs must register their attendance in the Dáil on 120 days to claim the full rate of Parliamentary Standard Allowance.

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