OIREACHTAS EXPENSES:EXPENSES PAID to members of the Oireachtas should be treated in the same way as those of employees generally, the commission has recommended.
In addition, a monetary limit should be placed on the dual abode scheme, whereby Ministers who live outside Dublin can claim against the cost of a second home in Dublin.
The report also recommended the ending of the flat rate element of the relief that applies to hotel and guesthouse accommodation.
Expenses related to their work as politicians are exempt from tax for members of the Oireachtas, who can claimed unvouched expenses.
It also wants a change to the scheme under which Ministers, Ministers of State and, when applicable, the Attorney General, living outside the Dublin area are allowed claim against the expense of maintaining a home in Dublin, or renting hotel or guesthouse accommodation. It recommends that a limit be imposed on how much can be claimed, but does not specify what that limit should be.
“On balance, we consider that the dual abode allowance should be continued. However the relief should not apply in an open-ended way without limit. A monetary limit should be put in place up to which the allowance can be claimed on the basis of vouched expenses.”
The payment of unvouched and untaxed expenses to members of the Oireachtas is a source of controversy. Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has introduced a 10 per cent cut in some rates, and has been seeking to negotiate the ending of some expenses to members and their replacement with a single payment.