TDs and Senators representing the Shannonside region claimed over €50,000 in expenses in December of last year. Allowances are available to cover the establishment of constituency offices, mobile phones, travel, graphic design and security measures.
Following the General Election at the end of November in 2024, 12 TDs were elected to the region's three constituencies. The area also had three locally based Senators serving in the Upper House in December in the lead up to the Seanad elections.
TDs and Senators in the Shannonside region claimed €55,489 in expenses in the first month of the Dáil term - despite the Dáil sitting just once and the Seanad not sitting at all. TDs in the North West saw the highest expenses locally, with the records showing Minister Marian Harkin and Deputy Frank Feighan claiming €4,252 euro for the month.
Elsewhere in the Sligo Leitrim Constituency, Eamon Scanlon claimed €4,225 while Martin Kenny saw €4,168 in expenses. In Roscommon Galway, Deputies Martin Daly, Michael Fitzmaurice and Claire Kerrane all claimed €4,197.
While in Longford and Westmeath, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran and Micheál Carrigy were reimbursed for €4,168 and €4,084 respectively. Deputies Robert Troy and Sorca Clarke both recorded €3,927 in allowances.
Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke saw the lowest expenses at €1,333, as senior Minister's have a ministerial car at their disposal. Local Seanad representatives claimed a total of €8,472 with that number thought to be increased this December due to the Seanad election in January.
Aisling Dolan and Eugene Murphy received €3,145 and €3,116 respectively, while Senator Joe Flaherty, who was appointed to the Seanad in early December, claimed back €2,211. Nationally, TDs claimed over half a million euro in expenses in the first month of the Dáil term - despite the house sitting just once.
