At least eight TDs employed family members as assistants with Oireachtas salaries 

Meanwhile, some TDs who had previously employed family members did not respond when asked 

TDs Danny Healy-Rae and Michael Healy-Rae outside Leinster House. Michael Healy-Rae's son Jackie has been employed by him for over a decade, while Danny Healy-Rae employs his wife Eileen as his parliamentary assistant.

At least eight TDs have employed family members as their assistants in roles funded by the taxpayer.

TDs are given an allowance every year to hire assistants who are paid by the Houses of the Oireachtas. 

They can employ an administrative assistant and either a parliamentary assistant or draw down the Special Secretarial Allowance. The maximum salary of an administrative assistant is €55,601, while it is €59,819 for a parliamentary assistant.

Those who have employed a family member include Education Minister Helen McEntee, whose cousin Christine Condra has been a secretarial assistant to both her and her late father Shane McEntee.

Also in Fine Gael, Galway East TD Peter Roche said that his niece, who has a business qualification, is his secretarial assistant. 

In Fianna Fáil, former Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíll said that his sister works in one of his constituency offices.

"My sister, who is a health professional, and particularly adept at assisting people who are anxious or distressed, has worked as my secretarial assistant since 2015 based in one of my constituency offices," he told The Irish Examiner. 

Áontú leader Peadar Tóibín also employs his sister in one of his offices, where she works one day a week.  Mr Tóibín's sister Emer is a councillor in Navan for the party. Employing councillors in offices is a common practice for TDs.

Two new independent junior ministers also employ family members in their offices. 

Junior transport minister Sean Canney's wife Geraldine has been his secretarial assistant since before his election to the Dáil while junior agriculture minister Michael Healy-Rae's son Jackie has been employed by him for over a decade. 

Mr Healy-Rae's brother Danny employs his wife Eileen as his parliamentary assistant.

Independent TD Barry Heneghan employs his brother, who he says runs his social media accounts and helped the Dublin Bay North TD get elected in the first place.

"He has 7+ years of experience in an administration role and has acquired great communication skills with customers that directly apply to managing public queries, community concerns, and office administration. He runs a successful social media account with millions of impressions and helped me in my campaign which was key to me being elected," Mr Heneghan said.

Some TDs who had previously employed family members, including Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon, government Chief Whip Mary Butler, Fianna Fáil TD Sean Fleming, and independent TD Mattie McGrath did not respond.

A Sinn Féin source said the party's leader Mary Lou McDonald told her TDs not to employ family members "some time ago".

According to a document given to TDs, assistants can "only be employed following successful completion of a qualification assessment procedure which requires an assessment to be made demonstrating certain competencies and educational qualification/work experience".