The Gravy Train

TDs now earn high multiples of the average wage. They get a basic salary of around €100,000, then lavish expenses and most of them have a Parliamentary nixer to add even more. By Adam Maguire

Paul Keogh (pictured) is an unassuming Fine Gael TD from Wexford, so far with little known to distinguish him from among his Dáil peers. But he is indeed distinguished. In the twelve months from December 2006 to December 2007, he managed to extract expenses of €85,227 added to his TD salary of €94,583. No mean distinction among 166 TDs who have managed to boost their incomes massively through expenses, bonuses and ministerial salaries.

Bertie Ahern is fortunate to have a bank account these times for his total earnings (from his official duties) are close to €300,000 (€279,985.90), the highest earner of the 166 TDs. Seamus Kirk, Fianna Fail TD for Louth (his seat was threatened by Fine Gael's Mairead McGuinness in the last election), is the lowest paid TD, getting a relatively modest €147,184.24. But it is bonanza time for a large number of TDs – 28 of them got over €175,000 and only six of them got less than €150,000.

In that twelve months between December 2006 and December 2007, TDs claimed almost €6m in expenses alone; that is an average of over €36,000 each before regular salaries and bonuses are taken into account. Many TDs came close to doubling their total income through expenses, claiming nearly as much as they were getting in their basic salary. Máire Hoctor, who was made a junior minister in June 2007 claimed €57,416 in expenses and gained €33,536 for the seven months of 2007 spent in the Department of Health. This means her basic income of €97,602 was supplemented by nearly €91,000 more in bonuses and expenses.Joh

At present any TD holding a Ministerial or Junior Ministerial position is given a sizable bonus on top of their basic salary, as are the Ceann Comhairle and Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

Almost all of the current cabinet doubled their basic income in 2007 just by being a Minister – Brian Lenihan and Eamon Ryan are the only two cabinet ministers to earn less than €200,000 last year.

As of June 2007 Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach receives €176,459 in addition to his TD salary, Brian Cowen as Tánaiste gets an additional €138,140 , each Minister and the Ceann Comhairle gets €118,981 extra while Junior Ministers and the Leas Cheann Comhairle get €51,921 more. Expenses claimed by Ministers and Junior Ministers largely go through their respective departments and any such figures are not listed here – therefore their total “take” is certainly even higher than recorded here.

The amount of time a TD has sat in Leinster House also affects the salary he or she receives. As of June 2007 the basic salary of a TD who has been a member of the house for less than seven years is €95,363. TDs who have served for seven years or more are paid €98,407 per year whilst TDs with 10 years' service are paid €101,446.

While the list overleaf includes only the TDs currently in Leinster House, some of the more significant incomes were those enjoyed by members who lost their seat or retired at the last election.

Fine Gael's Gerard Murphy made short of €39,000 in his basic TD salary before losing his seat in May, but he claimed almost €79,000 in expenses from January to May . Coupled with the money he earned from being Vice Chairman of a Committee, he managed to earn €121,097, more than some TDs earned during the 12 months of 2007.

Another three TDs who lost their seats in May also took in over €100,000. They were Independent Paudge Connolly, who made €115,048.62; Fianna Fáil's Tony Dempsey, who made €106,384.61 and Fianna Fáil's Joe Callanan, who made €101,616.59.

One of the less known, albeit less lucrative positions in the Oireachtas is in relation to the House's numerous Committees. Generally each Committee has a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman and at least one Convenor. At present Chairmen receive €19,058 extra a year, Vice-Chairmen receive €9,747 extra and Convenors get €6,072 extra per year.

There are currently 22 Chairmen, 23 Vice-Chairmen and 25 Convenors whom are also TDs. The Committees of the last Dáil ended in April when the House was dissolved while the existing Committees were established in November 2007.

Calculating the total income of each TD is more awkward for 2007 than in other years for a number of reasons.Firstly the previously mentioned raises made in June 2007 complicate figures as it is no longer one rate for the entire 12 months.

A second issue is that many of the TDs first elected in 1997 were celebrating their tenth year in Dáil Éireann in June and as a result were going onto the highest rate of basic TD pay from that point.

Thirdly the election saw 49 TDs enter the Dáil that had not been there at the start of the year, and many others moved into or out of position in Government.

With all of these permutations accounted for, featured overleaf  is a list of all the Dáil's standing TDs and the money they received through salary, bonus and expense claims, organised by the amount of the total income yielded.

Name Constituency Party Basic Salary Bonus (Min/Comm) Expenses Total Bertie Ahern Dublin Central Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €175,017.34 €4,351.35  €279,985.90 Brian Cowen Laois-Offaly Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €129,184.92 €21,071.97  €250,874.10 Dermot Ahern Louth Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €118,008.86 €27,010.49  €245,636.56 Seamus Brennan Dublin South Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €118,008.86 €27,010.49  €245,636.56 John O'Donoghue Kerry South Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €118,008.86 €25,490.06 €244,116.13 Mary Coughlan Donegal South-West Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €118,008.86 €21,071.97  €239,698.04 Martin Cullen Waterford Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €118,008.86 €21,071.97  €239,698.04 Éamon Ó Cuív Galway West Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €118,008.86 €21,071.97 €239,698.04 Mary Harney Dublin Mid-West PDs €100,617.21 €118,008.86 €21,071.97  €239,698.04 Mary Hanafin Dún Laoghaire Fianna Fáil €99,375.56 €118,008.86 €18,696.55  €236,080.97 Micheál Martin Cork South-Central Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €118,008.86 €16,436.74 €235,062.81 Noel Dempsey Meath West Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €118,008.86 €10,382.61  €229,008.68 Willie O'Dea Limerick East Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €118,008.86 €8,313.94  €226,940.01 John Gormley Dublin South-East Green Party €99,375.56 €69,405.56 €32,505.00 €201,286.12 Rory O'Hanlon Cavan-Monaghan Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €70,030.06 €29,848.91 €200,496.18 Brian Lenihan Dublin West Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €90,615.11 €8,313.94  €199,546.26 Máire Hoctor Tipperary North Fianna Fáil €97,602.81 €33,536.25 €57,416.85 €188,555.91 Dick Roche Wicklow Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €78,890.55 €8,495.80 €188,003.56 Brendan Howlin Wexford Labour €100,617.21 €30,287.25 €56,186.93 €187,091.39 John McGuinness Carlow-Kilkenny Fianna Fáil €99,375.56 €33,536.25 €52,461.96 €185,373.77 Eamon Ryan Dublin South Green Party €94,583.70 €71,429.56 €18,221.51 €184,234.77 Michael Ring Mayo Fine Gael €100,617.21   €79,989.16 €180,606.37 Bernard Allen Cork North-Central Fine Gael €100,617.21 €3,176.32 €76,352.99 €180,146.52 Paul Kehoe Wexford Fine Gael €94,583.70   €85,227.31 €179,811.01 Jimmy Devins Sligo-North Leitrim Fianna Fáil €94,583.70 €33,536.25 €49,811.82 €177,931.77 Michael Lowry Tipperary North Independent €100,617.21   €76,888.91 €177,506.12 M.J. Nolan Carlow-Kilkenny Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €3,176.32 €72,887.88 €176,681.41 Noel O'Flynn Cork North-Central Fianna Fáil €99,375.56 €9,528.96 €67,806.26 €176,710.78 Pat Carey Dublin North-West Fianna Fáil €99,375.56 €30,287.25 €45,215.32 €174,878.13 Michael Ahern Cork East Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €51,496.80 €22,510.30 €174,624.31 Jackie Healy-Rae Kerry South Independent €99,375.56 €3,249.00 €71,924.84 €174,549.40 Sean Fleming Laois-Offaly Fianna Fáil €99,375.56 €9,528.96 €65,156.23 €174,060.75 Batt O'Keeffe Cork North-West Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €51,496.80 €21,854.83 €173,968.84 Pat Gallagher Donegal South-West Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €51,496.80 €21,809.30 €173,923.31 Brendan Smith Cavan-Monaghan Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €51,496.80 €21,309.02 €173,424.03 John Browne Wexford Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €51,496.80 €21,309.73 €173,423.74 Michael Moynihan Cork North-West Fianna Fáil €99,375.56 €9,528.96 €64,442.41 €173,346.93 John Cregan Limerick West Fianna Fáil €94,583.70 €9,528.96 €69,214.28 €173,326.94 Seán Haughey Dublin North-Central Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €51,496.80 €20,205.04 €172,319.05 Johnny Brady Meath West Fianna Fáil €99,375.56 €9,528.96 €62,297.95 €171,202.47 Dinny McGinley Donegal South-West Fine Gael €100,617.21 €1,624.50 €68,536.40 €170,778.11 Billy Kelleher Cork North-Central Fianna Fáil €99,375.56 €30,287.25 €41,089.41 €170,752.22 Peter Power Limerick East Fianna Fáil €94,583.70 €6,425.32 €68,007.57 €169,016.59 Dan Neville Limerick West Fine Gael €99,375.56   €69,600.32 €168,975.88 Tony Killeen Clare Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €51,496.80 €16,619.60 €168,733.61 Conor Lenihan Dublin South-West Fianna Fáil €99,375.56 €51,496.80 €17,285.35 €168,157.71 Phil Hogan Carlow-Kilkenny Fine Gael €100,617.21   €67,480.01 €168,097.22 Paul Connaughton Galway East Fine Gael €100,617.21 €1,624.50 €65,563.04 €167,804.75 Pat Breen Clare Fine Gael €94,583.70   €73,144.89 €167,728.59 Ned O'Keeffe Cork East Fianna Fáil €100,617.21   €66,349.55 €166,966.76 Beverley Flynn Mayo Independent €99,375.56   €67,010.16 €166,385.72 Peter Kelly Longford-Westmeath Fianna Fáil €94,583.70 €1,624.50 €70,018.59 €166,226.79 Jimmy Deenihan Kerry North Fine Gael €100,617.21   €65,320.32 €165,937.53 Michael Finneran Roscommon-South Leitrim Fianna Fáil €94,583.70 €6,425.32 €64,300.64 €165,309.66 Tom Kitt Dublin South Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €51,496.80 €12,802.42 €164,916.43 Padraic McCormack Galway West Fine Gael €100,617.21 €1,624.50 €62,364.00 €164,605.71 Tom Hayes Tipperary South Fine Gael €96,359.46   €67,962.64 €164,322.10 Martin Ferris Kerry North Sinn Féin €94,583.70   €69,443.61 €164,027.31 Jim O'Keeffe Cork South-West Fine Gael €100,617.21 €1,624.50 €58,965.46 €161,207.17 Seymour Crawford Cavan-Monaghan Fine Gael €100,617.21 €1,624.50 €58,514.20 €160,755.91 Sean Power Kildare North Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €51,496.80 €8,496.80 €160,610.81 Mary Wallace Meath East Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €51,496.80 €8,451.07 €160,565.08 Enda Kenny Mayo Fine Gael €100,617.21   €59,790.03 €160,407.24 James McDaid Donegal North-East Fianna Fáil €100,617.21   €59,686.13 €160,303.34 Niall Blaney Donegal North-East Fianna Fáil €94,583.70 €3,176.32 €61,784.91 €159,544.93 Michael Woods Dublin North-East Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €9,528.96 €48,969.77 €159,115.94 Kathleen Lynch Cork North-Central Labour €98,407.00 €1,012.00 €57,241.87 €156,660.87 Michael Noonan Limerick East Fine Gael €100,617.21 €7,364.64 €46,526.82 €154,508.67 Damien English Meath West Fine Gael €94,583.70 €3,036.00 €56,497.01 €154,116.71 John Moloney Laois-Offaly Fianna Fáil €99,375.56 €9,528.96 €44,762.31 €153,666.83 Olwyn Enright Laois-Offaly Fine Gael €94,583.70   €58,939.73 €153,523.43 Michael D. Higgins Galway West Labour €100,617.21 €1,012.00 €51,751.02 €153,380.23 Tony Gregory Dublin Central Independent €100,617.21   €52,207.06 €152,824.27 Billy Timmins Wicklow Fine Gael €99,375.56   €52,901.59 €152,277.15 Noel Ahern Dublin North-West Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €51,496.80 €137.13 €152,251.14 Trevor Sargent Dublin North Green Party €100,617.21 €30,287.25 €20,558.26 €151,462.72 Willie Penrose Longford-Westmeath Labour €94,583.70 €9,528.96 €46,381.47 €150,494.13 Seán Ardagh Dublin South-Central Fianna Fáil €99,375.56 €9,528.96 €41,528.36 €150,432.88 Jack Wall Kildare South Labour €99,375.56 €1,624.50 €48,307.01 €149,307.07 Shane McEntee Meath East Fine Gael €94,583.70   €54,619.68 €149,203.38 Denis Naughten Roscommon-South Leitrim Fine Gael €99,375.56 €2,024.00 €47,547.31 €148,946.87 Noel Grealish Galway West PDs €94,583.70   €54,045.60 €148,629.30 Fergus O'Dowd Louth Fine Gael €94,583.70   €52,715.39 €147,299.09 Seamus Kirk Louth Fianna Fáil €100,617.21   €46,567.03 €147,184.24 Caoimhghín O'Caoláin Cavan-Monaghan Sinn Féin €99,375.56   €46,757.64 €146,133.20 David Stanton Cork East Fine Gael €99,375.56   €46,181.46 €145,557.02 Arthur Morgan Louth Sinn Féin €94,583.70   €50,790.95 €145,374.65 Bernard Durkan Kildare North Fine Gael €100,617.21 €3,176.32 €40,162.73 €143,956.26 Brian O'Shea Waterford Labour €100,617.21 €1,012.00 €41,130.96 €142,760.17 Simon Coveney Cork South-Central Fine Gael €97,602.81   €44,257.62 €141,860.43 Emmet Stagg Kildare North Labour €100,617.21   €40,635.06 €141,252.27 Thomas McEllistrim Kerry North Fianna Fáil €94,583.70 €3,648.50 €38,963.18 €137,195.38 Finian McGrath Dublin North-Central Independent €94,583.70   €42,419.68 €137,003.38 Liz McManus Wicklow Labour €100,617.21   €35,590.80 €136,208.01 John Curran Dublin Mid-West Fianna Fáil €94,583.70   €41,059.93 €135,643.63 Róisín Shortall Dublin North-West Labour €100,617.21 €1,012.00 €34,008.59 €135,637.80 Frank Fahey Galway West Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €3,176.32 €31,612.20 €135,405.73 Joe Costello Dublin Central Labour €99,375.56   €35,666.11 €135,041.67 Noel Treacy Galway East Fianna Fáil €100,617.21 €24,385.87 €8,447.31 €133,450.39 Eamon Gilmore Dún Laoghaire Labour €100,617.21   €32,564.52 €133,181.73 Charlie O'Connor Dublin South-West Fianna Fáil €94,583.70 €3,648.50 €34,605.49 €132,837.69 Barry Andrews Dún Laoghaire Fianna Fáil €94,583.70 €6,425.32 €31,218.18 €132,227.20 Mary Upton Dublin South-Central Labour €97,602.81   €34,070.12 €131,672.93 Ruairi Quinn Dublin South-East Labour €100,617.21 €1,624.50 €29,324.92 €131,566.63 Paul Gogarty Dublin Mid-West Green Party €94,583.70 €3,176.32 €32,408.81 €130,168.83 Ciarán Cuffe Dún Laoghaire Green Party €94,583.70 €1,624.50 €32,039.63 €128,247.83 Michael Mulcahy Dublin South-Central Fianna Fáil €94,583.70   €33,276.08 €127,859.78 Tommy Broughan Dublin North-East Labour €100,617.21   €27,048.31 €127,665.52 Olivia Mitchell Dublin South Fine Gael €99,375.56   €26,494.54 €125,870.01 Aengus Ó Snodaigh Dublin South-Central Sinn Féin €94,583.70   €30,670.15 €125,253.85 Pat Rabbitte Dublin South-West Labour €100,617.21   €24,519.65 €125,136.86 Richard Bruton Dublin North-Central Fine Gael €100,617.21   €23,971.81 €124,589.02 Sean O'Fearghail Kildare South Fianna Fáil €94,583.70 €3,648.50 €24,421.78 €122,653.98 John Perry Sligo-North Leitrim Fine Gael €99,375.56 €6,425.32 €16,184.98 €121,985.86 John Deasy Waterford Fine Gael €94,583.70 €6,352.64 €19,267.37 €120,203.71 Joan Burton Dublin West Labour €99,375.56   €20,644.75 €120,020.31 Jan O'Sullivan Limerick East Labour €97,602.81 €4,873.50 €43,099.69 €100,660.83 Michael Kitt* Galway East Fianna Fáil €61,248.93 €30,287.25 €8,219.09 €99,755.27 Michael Creed* Cork North-West Fine Gael €61,248.93   €33,676.78 €94,925.71 Margaret Conlon* Cavan-Monaghan Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €34,411.21 €92,984.35 Mattie McGrath* Tipperary South Fianna Fáil €57,561.14   €35,358.95 €92,920.09 Tom Sheahan* Kerry South Fine Gael €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €34,235.26 €92,808.40 Timmy Dooley* Clare Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,624.50 €32,941.49 €92,127.13 Mary White* Carlow-Kilkenny Green Party €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €32,015.42 €90,588.56 Dr. Martin Mansergh* Tipperary South Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,624.50 €30,986.74 €90,172.38 Joe Carey* Clare Fine Gael €57,561.14   €32,369.15 €89,930.29 Ciarán Lynch* Cork South-Central Labour €57,561.14   €32,168.41 €89,729.55 Michael D'Arcy* Wexford Fine Gael €57,561.14   €32,048.75 €89,609.89 P.J. Sheehan* Cork South-West Fine Gael €61,248.93   €28,292.02 €89,540.95 Noel J. Coonan* Tipperary North Fine Gael €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €28,365.60 €86,938.74 Eamon Scanlon* Sligo-North Leitrim Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,624.50 €27,414.83 €86,600.47 Seán Connick* Wexford Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,624.50 €26,993.13 €86,178.77 John O'Mahony* Mayo Fine Gael €57,561.14   €28,549.48 €86,110.62 Dara Calleary* Mayo Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,624.50 €26,917.51 €86,103.15 Brendan Kenneally* Waterford Fianna Fáil €61,248.93 €1,624.50 €22,978.28 €85,851.71 Charles Flanagan* Laois-Offaly Fine Gael €61,248.93   €23,990.44 €85,239.37 Joe McHugh* Donegal North-East Fine Gael €57,561.14   €27,542.31 €85,103.45 Sean Barrett* Dún Laoghaire Fine Gael €61,248.93 €3,176.32 €20,354.23 €84,779.48 Aine Brady* Kildare North Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €24,630.02 €83,203.16 Bobby Aylward* Carlow-Kilkenny Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €24,585.05 €83,158.19 Thomas Byrne* Meath East Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €24,114.32 €82,687.46 Joe Behan* Wicklow Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €23,603.27 €82,176.41 Andrew Doyle* Wicklow Fine Gael €57,561.14   €24,583.89 €82,145.03 Sean Sherlock* Cork East Labour €57,561.14   €24,485.93 €82,047.07 Cyprian Brady* Dublin Central Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,624.50 €22,595,92 €81,781.56 Niall Collins* Limerick West Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €22,865.19 €81,438.33 Michael McGrath* Cork South-Central Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €22,635.26 €81,208.40 Frank Feighan* Roscommon-South Leitrim Fine Gael €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €21,744.66 €80,317.80 Mary O'Rourke* Longford-Westmeath Fianna Fáil €61,248.93 €3,176.32 €15,235.36 €79,660.61 Leo Varadkar* Dublin West Fine Gael €57,561.14   €21,634.65 €79,195.79 Lucinda Creighton* Dublin South-East Fine Gael €57,561.14   €21,202.41 €78,763.55 Deirdre Clune* Cork South-Central Fine Gael €57,561.14   €19,958.72 €77,519.86 Catherine Byrne* Dublin South-Central Fine Gael €57,561.14   €19,677.40 €77,238.54 Christy O'Sullivan* Cork South-West Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €18,580.45 €77,152.59 Ulick Burke* Galway East Fine Gael €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €18,491.84 €77,064.98 Kieran O'Donnell* Limerick East Fine Gael €57,561.14   €19,083.90 €76,645.04 Michael Fitzpatrick* Kildare North Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €15,919.91 €74,493.05 Dr. James Reilly* Dublin North Fine Gael €57,561.14   €15,431.83 €72,992.97 James Bannon* Longford-Westmeath Fine Gael €57,561.14   €15,343.22 €72,904.36 Alan Shatter* Dublin South Fine Gael €61,248.93   €11,589.12 €72,838.05 Michael Kennedy* Dublin North Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,624.50 €13,373.49 €72,559.13 Chris Andrews* Dublin South-East Fianna Fáil €57,561.14   €13,531.25 €71,092.39 Brian Hayes* Dublin South-West Fine Gael €57,561.14   €13,223.52 €70,784.66 Terence Flanagan* Dublin North-East Fine Gael €57,561.14   €12,819.72 €70,380.86 Darragh O'Brien* Dublin North Fianna Fáil €57,561.14 €1,012.00 €6,543.66 €65,116.80 Joanna Tuffy* Dublin Mid-West Labour €57,561.14   €6,455.22 €64,016.35           Total: €23,419,449.70           Average per TD: €141,081.02