Dáil and Seanad running costs reach record €114m

IT cost a record €114 million to run the Dáil and Seanad last year — nearly €28 for every man, woman and child in the State.

Spending on politicians and their services is also set to jump again this year by a fifth.

Running costs were €113.8m for 2007, compared to €100m the previous year, according to a report by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission.

The report, put up on the Oireachtas website since the TDs and Senators took their summer break, outlines salary, pension, equipment and training costs for members and Oireachtas staff for the year. It also details surveys on satisfaction with services and hygiene in Leinster House.

TDs received salaries of €16.4m, while Senators were paid €4m and MEPs another €1.8m.

Payments for secretarial assistance for politicians amounted to another €20m. Travel expenses for TDs, senators and committees came to €5.6m.

While wages and allowances for the Houses of the Oireachtas staff came to over €22m, another €10m was spent on operating machinery and other office supplies.

Writing in the report, Ceann Comhairle TD John O’Donoghue said: “The office was particularly busy planning for the General Elections to both Houses and putting the necessary infrastructure in place in a timely manner for members and staff in the post-election period, allowing them to get on with the work of the parliament as soon as possible following the first sittings of the Houses.”

Payment for catering and bar staff amounted to €1.6m, the report revealed, while the televising of Dáil and Seanad proceedings cost taxpayers €1.4m.

There was a reduction in sittings and committee hearings due to elections, but an increase in tours, visits and general meetings which amounted to 4,000 during the year.

Costs for promoting parliament activity amounted to over €6m, which included broadcasting the Ryan Tubridy show from Leinster House, as well as different polls on public attitudes about the houses and the improvement of buildings.

There were a large number of staff turnovers, mainly due to members leaving positions after the election.

Furthermore, 11,400 invoices were processed and training courses provided for 2,700 people. A smaller number of courses were for the use of Blackberry phones and first aid.

New members of the houses were assigned 40 “mentors” after being elected to help them settle in.

Some 3,000 Oireachtas pages of documents were also translated, mainly into Irish.

A survey of staff in November found nearly one third were dissatisfied with the hygiene or cleanliness of the Houses. Some two thirds of Oireachtas staff were also unhappy with how underperformance was addressed with colleagues.