Political parties received €12m from taxpayer
Fianna Fáil received just under €4.6m, Fine Gael €3.1m and Labour almost €2m.
The PDs got circa €900,000, the Greens €670,000, Sinn Féin €600,000 and the Socialist Party almost €59,000.
Parties can qualify for Exchequer funding in two ways: via the Electoral Acts and the Party Leaders’ Allowance legislation.
Under the system, the bigger a party is, the more money it gets.
Electoral Act funding is given to every party which contested the last general election and whose candidates received 2% or more of the total first-preference vote. The specific amount each qualifying party then gets depends on the exact size of its vote.
The money can be used for general administration, research, training, policy formulation and co-ordination of branch activity, but not for contesting elections or referendums.
The Party Leaders’ Allowance is given to every party which contested the last election and had at least one member elected to the Dáil or elected or nominated to the Seanad. The size of the allowance then depends on the number of representatives each of the qualifying parties has.
The allowance is meant to cover expenses arising from parliamentary activities, including research, but again, cannot be used for elections or referendums.
Independent TDs and senators also qualify for the allowance, and between them received €563,327 last year. When that figure is added to the €11,919,391 given to the parties, it means the taxpayer funded politicians to the tune of almost €12.5m in 2005.
