Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the total amount of funding allocated under the party leader's allowance in each of the past 10 years broken down by party; and the way in which the underlining rate per member applying to the party leader's allowance scheme has changed in each of these years. [12254/13]

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.

The allowance is paid to the parliamentary leader of a "qualifying party”, as defined in the legislation underpinning the allowance, in relation to expenses arising from the parliamentary activities, including research, of the party. Payments are made in respect of members of the party elected to Dáil Éireann and members elected/nominated to Seanad Éireann at the last preceding general election, or a subsequent bye-election or, in the case of Seanad Éireann, nominated to it after the last preceding general election.

Under the legislation, the amount of the allowance is calculated based on the number of members elected at the time of election in accordance with the following table:

*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 currently entitled to an annual rate of €41,152. A similar provision in the Act provides for an annual payment, currently amounting to €23,383, for Independent Senators.

A table outlining the historic rates applicable for calculating the entitlement of qualifying Party Leaders and qualifying Independent Members for each of the years 2002 to 2012 is set out at Appendix 1.

The total amounts paid to each qualifying party leader in each of the years 2002 to 2012 is set out at Appendix 2. Appendix 2 also illustrates the total amounts paid in respect of all qualifying Independent TDs and all qualifying Independent Senators in each of those years.

The rates of the allowances were adjusted automatically by reference to salary increases in the Civil Service in accordance with legislation.

As part of the reform of the political expenses regime, in the context of the Expenditure Estimates for 2013, I announced that a 10% reduction will be applied to the Party Leaders’ Allowance rates payable to qualifying leaders of political parties and to qualifying Independent Members. I also announced my intention to amend the legislation to amend the legislation to improve the transparency of the allowance by providing for auditing provisions to apply to Independent Members in receipt of such payments. My Department is preparing the changes to primary legislation necessary to effect those changes.

Party Leaders Allowance - Total amounts paid in each year from 2002 to 2012