Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. a1:

In page 3, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following:

" "Act of 2001" means Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2001.".

This amendment is to deal with the issue which the Minister indicated he was sympathetic to examining, namely the status of the allowances paid to Independents. Under the present arrangements, while parties have to provide justification for their leaders' allowances in the form of vouched returns, etc., a similar restriction does not apply to Independents. The purpose of my amendment is to provide that the annual allowance enjoyed by Independents be backed up by a statement of expenditure from that allowance. There should be equity for all Members. While it is important that Independent Deputies have the same support as is provided to Deputies who are members of parties through the leader's allowance to help carry out research and engage in legitimate parliamentary activities, there should be a similar obligation to account for how the money is used. Otherwise there is simply a slush fund available to Independents that is not available to members of parties to compete in constituencies.

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