Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Will Mr. Coughlan please do that? I see no good reason to give €9,500 to the chairpersons of committees. I think at a time of austerity, when the cupboard is bare, the payment should be dispensed with. The payment of €9,500 each year to the members of the Oireachtas Commission is scandalous. I cannot see the rationale for that figure. That payment should be also dispensed with.

Let us look at the costs associated with the party whips. It would have been clearer if the costs were added up and we were given the total figures. My best guess at the figures provided by Mr. Coughlan, when one takes account of the whips in the Dáil and Seanad but excluding the Chief Whip, who has the status of a super junior Minister, is €103,000 per annum.