Parties reap €12.7m in funds from exchequer

POLITICIANS received more than €12.7 million from taxpayers last year to pay for everything from vanity polling to drinks parties, new figures reveal.

The Standards in Public Office Commission report revealed vivid differences between the main parties’ priorities as the general election loomed ever larger on the horizon.

Fianna Fáil sank the biggest amount into PR, Fine Gael was obsessed by private polling, and, perhaps fearing electoral oblivion awaited, the PDs were the keenest to have a party.