Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 July 2013
108. Deputy Eric Byrne asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reasons behind the payment of a whips allowance to the Socialist Party and the People Before Profit Alliance in view of the fact that both of these parties only have one member in Dáil Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33989/13]
View answer111. Deputy Eric Byrne asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason behind the payment of a whips allowance to the Socialist Party and the People Before Profit Alliance in view of the fact that these parties only have one member in Dáil Éireann and for a group to be recognised for speaking rights in Dáil Éireann it requires seven members; the reason this payment is made to these Deputies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33993/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 108 and 111 together.
The Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary, Judicial and Court Offices (Amendment) Act, 1998, provides that an order may be made to provide for a payment to a member of the Oireachtas who holds the position of Party Whip in Dáil Éireann. In that Act, a Party Whip is defined as a member of Dáil Éireann nominated by the leader of a party in Dáil Éireann, having not less than two members in Dáil Éireann, to be the whip of that party. There is no link between the technical rules for speaking time and the provisions of this legislation.
When the last statutory instrument relating to whip’s allowances, (S.I. No 347 of 2001), was published, both the Socialist Party and People before Profit Alliance had the required two members in Dáil Éireann, and therefore provision had to be made for a whip’s allowance for those parties should it be sought. However, this allowance was never claimed by or paid to a member of either party, and as both parties have less than the required two members, this allowance is no longer permitted to be paid.
Officials from my Department are currently preparing a new statutory instrument to reflect the revised rates for various allowances payable to members following the implementation of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2013. This S.I. will also remove the provision for the two whips’ allowances referred to by the Deputy, as the parties concerned no longer qualify for such an allowance.
