Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Deputies and Senators receive an accommodation allowance. However, for those Ministers of State or Ministers who stay in the same hotel as me, not only do they get the full cost of the hotel written off their tax bill, but they also get additional costs written off. When one inquires as to the additional costs, the answer is that these are laundry costs, etc. This shows that the tax code is bizarre. If a Minister, a Minister of State or an office-holder wants to buy a house in Dublin, they are permitted to write off the interest on the dual abode allowance, auctioneer fees - as far as I know - the maintenance costs and electricity and gas. If they rent accommodation they are permitted to claim for the full rent. It is not acceptable, in my view, that this is available to Ministers, office-holders and Ministers of State, while at the same time, ordinary people the length and breadth of the country who have only one house, who may be clinging for dear life in an effort to hold on to that house, are being subjected by the same Ministers who are able to avail of a unique section in the tax code which allows them to have their tax reduced because of the dual abode allowance. The Taoiseach, committed to end the dual abode allowance if he got into office.