Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is great that there are so many here.

My amendment, which is written in plain English, states that where a member of a party elected to Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann ceases to be a member of that party, the percentage amount of the allowance paid in respect of the member to his or her former party shall be paid to such former party member and such amount shall be deducted from that party's parliamentary activities allowance. It is straightforward. If somebody leaves a political party for whatever reason or is expelled, the party should not continue to receive the funding in respect of him or her as he or she is no longer a member of it. There is a pure natural justice issue here and the allowance should be for the member.

When I raised this on Second Stage, the Minister's reply was along the lines that when those Members stood for election they had the name of their political party on the ballot party. As we all will be aware, that is the case. It was not the political party that was elected; it was the individual. No returning officer stands up in a constituency and states that the results of the election are as follows: Fine Gael, one seat; Fianna Fáil, one seat, Independents, one seat. He or she stands up and gives the names of the Members elected.