Oireachtas expenses are still open to abuse

Mark Mulqueen, Head of Communications at the Houses of the Oireachtas (May 9) chooses not to mention that, while TDs and senators are paid a travel allowance based on the distance between their home and Leinster House, there is no rule stopping a TD or senator from randomly choosing the further distance possible as their designated home, in order to claim the maximum possible expenses that they can.

Members of the Oireachtas are still not held to even the most basic accountability or transparency, with regard to their expenses, that you’d expect from the most humble business.

That is, providing and publishing receipts to verify that the expenses they claim were legitimately incurred in the course of their job.

When you look at the details on the Oireachtas website, the one thing that clearly stands out is that, if the expense claims are meant to be based on actual genuine expenses, it is simply amazing how many TDs and senators incur to the cent, the exact same expenses.

This can only be because the expenses claimed are not genuine but are based on the maximum possible amount that can be claimed from the allowances.

Desmond FitzGerald

Canary Wharf

London