Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount paid to each qualifying party leader in respect of Deputies, and not Senators, belonging to his or her party and to each independent Deputy, and not Senator, under Section 1 of the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Office) (Amendment) Act 2001, by virtue of their being members of the 31st Dáil for the period of time between the commencement of the 31st Dáil and 25 February 2012; the specific number of payments made to each qualifying part leader and to each independent Deputy under the terms of Section 1 of the aforementioned Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46100/12]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Party Leader’s Allowance is provided for in the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) Act, 1938, as amended by the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 2001. Under the legislation, the amounts paid to the parliamentary leader of a qualifying party are calculated on the following basis:

*The legislation provides that, in the case of a qualifying party forming part of the Government, the combined allowances due in respect of TDs of that party are reduced by one third.

The legislation also provides that payments may be made to a member of Dáil Éireann, who at the last preceding general election or at a subsequent bye-election was elected as a member other than as a member of a qualifying party. Such qualifying Independent TDs are entitled to an annual rate of €41,152.

The total amounts paid to (i) each qualifying party leader in respect of the Deputies belonging to his or her party, and (ii) each qualifying independent Deputy from the commencement of the 31st Dáil up to the 28th of February 2012, as well as the number of payments made, are laid out in the tables below. The allowances are generally payable monthly in arrears into a bank account specified by the beneficiary of the allowance.

(i) Amount paid to each qualifying party leader in respect of Deputies belonging to his or her party from the commencement of the 31st Dáil up to the 28th of February 2012

(ii) Amount paid to each qualifying Independent Deputy from the commencement of the 31st Dáil up to the 28th of February 2012