Taxpayers pay €2m for aides to ministers

TAXPAYERS are footing a bill of €2m a year for more than 100 civil servants who work exclusively on constituency issues for Government ministers.

However, general election spending rules mean routine constituency work carried out by these officials does not have to be included in a minister’s spending limits.

The Green Party yesterday said the rules gave an unfair advantage to ministers and called for the spending guidelines to be changed.

All 15 government ministers are entitled to six civil servants working on constituency business, while the 17 ministers of state are permitted to have five civil servants.

According to the ethics watchdog, the Standards in Public Offices Commission, routine constituency work is not considered an election expense. However, any work connected to an election campaign is included.

This is despite a Supreme Court ruling last month which found that sitting politicians must include the value of services provided to them by the state, such as offices and phones in Leinster House, in their election spending.

Green Party chairman John Gormley said it was clear that ministers still had an advantage over normal deputies despite the landmark ruling last month.

“You don’t have to scratch far beneath the surface to find that these civil servants are engaged in electioneering,” Mr Gormley said. “Constituency work at the time of an election is quite obviously electioneering and it’s disingenuous to suggest that it’s not.”

Last month’s Supreme Court ruling means sitting TDs have to compile the amount they spent during the election by calculating the cost of Leinster House services available to them. The value of these services has been estimated at around €5,000, which could push some successful candidates above the election spending limits.

However, the exclusion of constituency work by civil services into the final bill could save many ministers and deputies from breaking the limit.

He said election spending rules should be changed to ensure that routine constituency work is included in the spending limits.

New figures show Education Minister Noel Dempsey appears to be breaking the spending limits by employing an average of six and a half people to work on constituency affairs.

Social Welfare Minister Mary Coughlan, Environment Minister Martin Cullen and Sports Minister John O’Donoghue use their full complement of six staff.

Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy, Foreign Affairs Minister Brian Cowen, Communications Minister Dermot Ahern and Transport Minister Seamus Brennan use five constituency staff.

Health Minister Micheál Martin is among those who uses the least civil service constituency personnel, using an average of 4.5 full-time staff.