SENATORS WERE paid more than €163,000 for travel and other expenses in the month of August 2011, during which the Seanad did not sit.
A total of €1,322,093.95 was shared by 60 Senators since the new Upper House sat for the first time last spring. The expenses payments are in addition to an average Senator’s salary of €65,621.
A spokesman for the Oireachtas defended the monthly parliamentary standard allowance paid to Senators, which is made up of a travel and accommodation allowance and a public representation allowance. A total of €163,189.15 was distributed last August.
“It’s an annual allowance that for administrative reasons is paid retrospectively each month,” he said. Members can attend Leinster House when it is not in session, and the verification of attendance records displayed on the Oireachtas website shows that many Senators did so last year. They are required to confirm attendance in Leinster House by using an electronic fob or signing a register.
Members of the current Seanad were paid expenses from April 26th, although the Upper House did not sit until May 25th. Payments to the Taoiseach’s nominees began on May 20th, the day on which their appointment was announced.
The Seanad election took place 60 days after the general election which selected Dáil membership, so members of the last Seanad including Green Party senators continued to be paid until April 25th, the official date of the cessation of the 23rd Seanad. The Upper House sat for three days last March and for one day in both April and May.
The travel and accommodation allowance covers the cost of travel to and from Leinster House and accommodation where applicable. Senators are paid a lower rate than TDs because, unlike deputies, they are not compensated for constituency travel.
The annual amounts range from €7,000 for Senators who live within 25km of Leinster House to €32,850 for those based 36km or more from the parliament building on Kildare Street, Dublin.
As with TDs, Senators living farthest away from Leinster House tend to accrue the largest amount of expenses. Travel allowances are based on the distance from Leinster House, with a series of bands of 30km numbered one to 12.
While members must attend a minimum of 120 days annually to receive full payment of the travel and accommodation allowance, the days can be registered on any day Leinster House is open and is not restricted to sitting days.
Senators can opt for the public representation allowance to be vouched or unvouched. The minimum certified amount for unvouched expenditure is €9,250 and the fully vouched maximum amount, which may be subject to audit, is €15,000.
Oireachtas guidelines state Senators may use the allowance for telephone calls; distributing leaflets; some advertising; attendance at conferences except expenses relating to travel and “web hosting and other related computer costs”.
