Revealed: The €38m bill to run Oireachtas for one year

PRECISE details of how over €38 million was spent in one year by the Oireachtas on the expenses and allowances of TDs and senators, the salaries of Oireachtas staff as well as on the upkeep of Leinster House have been released for the first time.

The information, which lists over 13,000 items of expenditure, is likely to spark calls for greater reform of the political system and, in particular, the level of expenses and allowances granted to Dáil members.

A Freedom of Information request to obtain the documents was firmly resisted by the Houses of the Oireachtas.