The Green Party used State funding to pay a €9,750 salary top-up to its chairwoman and leader in the Seanad Pauline O’Reilly.
The payment was made from the parliamentary activities allowance (PAA), one of two streams of State funding provided to the political parties.
The payment — described in the return as an “honorarium in respect of parliamentary activities” — is on top of the €70,870 salary Ms O’Reilly is entitled to as a senator.
The party also disclosed the use of almost €22,000 in separate exchequer funding on “legal consultancy fees” which the it said was used for legal consultation to support representatives facing online abuse and security threats.
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A party spokeswoman explained the payment to Ms O’Reilly saying: “Seanad leaders are usually in receipt of Oireachtas stipends, including Seanad leaders of the Opposition parties.”
These are taxpayer-funded allowances for certain roles.
The spokeswoman added: “Because this is a three-party government, the Green Party Seanad leader does not receive anything to cover additional work associated with the role.”
The payment was revealed as part of an expenditure statement the Green Party made in an annual return to the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo).
The party’s spending declaration offered more detail than many of the other parties.
In relation to the €21,817 spent on “legal consultancy fees” the spokeswoman said: “At times our public representatives face toxic social media abuse and, in some cases, security threats. Unfortunately both are on the rise in recent years and has required increased legal consultation in order to provide appropriate support.”
Sipo has published reports on the allocation and spending of State funding by political parties and Independent TDs.
In total, nine political parties got a combined €13.4 million in funding through one or — in most cases — both streams of State funding: exchequer funding and the PAA.
The Green Party got €1,212,949 overall and spent €1,348,747. It had €248,372 left over from 2020.
