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Updated 31/05/2015
FIGURES FROM THE Standards in Public Office Commission have been released showing how much State funding parliamentarians received in 2014.
In total parties, received €12.6 million, with independent members of the Dáil receiving €563,866 and independent members of the Seanad receiving €249,130.
Money given is to allow parliamentarians to carry out administration, training, research and other duties related to their work in the Oireachtas.
Who received what?
Money is distributed under two pieces of legislation: the Electoral Act 1997 and the Parliamentary Activities Allowance legislation.
The main political parties receive funding under the Electoral Act while the Parliamentary Activities Allowance legislation covers a broader range of recipients.
The four biggest parties in the Dáil: Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and The Labour Party, were all eligible to receive money under the Electoral Act 1997. This money is not subject to income tax and parties are forbidden from using it for electoral or referendum purposes.
Full details of how the political parties spent money given out under the Electoral Act can be viewed here.
Fine Gael was the biggest recipient, receiving more than €2.2 million. Sinn Féin received the smallest amount of €720,000.
Under the Parliamentary Activities Allowance legislation, money was given to the parliamentary party leaders of seven parties. These were the Anti Austerity Alliance, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the People before Profit, Sinn Féin, Stop the Water Tax – Socialist Party, and The Labour Party.
The money given out to parliamentary leaders amounted to €7.117 million.
Non-party members of the Dáil and the Seanad were entitled to a similar payment under the Parliamentary Activities Allowance. This amounted to a total of €563,866 for independent members of the Dáil and €249,130 for independent members of the Seanad.
– First published 29/05/2015
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We dont recognize mandate.What country do they think we’re in South Korea.Its your right be a member of a union.Any one who goes past a picket is a S___.
@Dave Walsh: They have more then 800 staff so 30% is not happy and 70% agreed
a deal. Yes it is everybody’s right to be a member of a union but it’s also our right not to agree with the picket.
@Dave Walsh: I always found it interesting that it’s a ‘right’ to be part of a union but you’ve no ‘right’ to pass a picket , you’ll be called every name under the sun. Find it pretty hypocritical to be honest.
@Bilbo Baggins: It is a right under the constitution that you can be a member of a union. You can pass a picket if you want but of course you will be called names and be scorned for passing a picket, not because you have the right to pass picket but because it is a not a nice thing to do.
@Hans Vos: incorrect. Senior management and the Directors allowed themselves a vote on their own proposals, including 70 staff in Head Office who are not impacted by the deal at all. They gerrymandered the vote. They also didn’t allow an anonymous vote because you had to supply your name and staff number in order to vote. 96% of staff who voted in the only independent anonymous ballot rejected the deal – and that was a vote by people affected by the proposals. The company are the most profitable multinational pharma company in the world and they pay their irish workforce as low as €10 per hour. The CEO paid himself €15 million last year. These workers deserve better.
@Bilbo Baggins: where you born that way?
Lloyd have mercy!
@Gerard O’Brien:
Well done to the Lloyds workers keep up the fight. Anybody who passes an official picket should be ashamed of themselves.
They don’t deserve to serve in healtcare even tangentially.
Fire them all.
@Steven C. Schulz: This is a strike against the public safety and should be illegal.
have your say