The Oireachtas public relations office has issued a statement defending politicians' expenses in the wake of recent "invidious, misleading and tendentious" coverage.
In an unusual intervention the office yesterday criticised the creation of "league tables" by some newspapers of TDs and senators who receive expenses. Such tables have been a feature of coverage in recent days of the annual release of individual Oireachtas members' expenses under the Freedom of Information Act.
"Sensational headlines obscure and ignore the circumstances that give rise to the legitimate and statutorily based expenses which naturally arise from the dual role of members as both legislators and public representatives," according to a statement from the office.
Politicians deeply resent the annual publication of expenses they receive, saying they involve an annual restatement of their entitlements. They also include the costs of travelling abroad on Oireachtas business, which substantially inflates the headline figures received by some members.
"Implicit in the manner of the reporting of the details of members' expenses is the myth that the functioning of the constitutional and legislative structures of our democracy must or should occur at no financial cost to the State," the office says.
"Deputies and senators function both as legislators and as public representatives, and as such each divides their time between the needs of their constituency and attending meetings of Dail and Seanad Eireann respectively, and the many specialist committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas.
"The allowances to which members are legally entitled allow them to maintain the necessary democratic link between parliament and the electorate and to represent Ireland abroad."