21/06/07 - Report on expenditure of the Party Leaders Allowance (2006)

Part 1 - Introduction

The Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2001 (the Act) provides for the payment of an annual allowance to the parliamentary leader of a qualifying party in relation to expenses arising from the parliamentary activities, including research, of the party. The allowance is referred to as the Party Leaders Allowance.

A qualifying party is defined in the Act as a political party registered in the Register of Political Parties which contested the last preceding general election (which in terms of this report is the Dáil general election of 2002) or any subsequent by-elections and which had at least one member elected to Dáil Éireann or elected or nominated to Seanad Éireann.

The allowance is calculated for each parliamentary leader by reference to the number of members of the party elected to Dáil Éireann or elected or nominated to Seanad Éireann. If a qualifying party forms part of the Government, the combined allowances in respect of its members of the Dáil only, will be reduced by one-third.

The Standards Commission has a supervisory role in relation to spending of the Party Leaders Allowance. This report relates to the Statements of Expenditure of the Party Leaders Allowance in respect of the year 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2006, which were furnished to the Standards Commission by the parliamentary leaders of the seven qualifying political parties, namely Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, The Labour Party, The Progressive Democrats, The Green Party, Sinn Féin and The Socialist Party.

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