TDs are set to get a pay rise of over €2,000 on Wednesday.
Politicians will be awarded the salary hike under a public sector pay deal which will see a TD’s basic wages top €107,000 - and this is before their infamously generous expenses are added on top.
The Dáil sits for an average of 100 days a year, just three days a week before huge holidays, so it means their salary stands at over €1,000 for every day they represent voters in the Dáil.
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It would also see a backbench TD who lives in an area a considerable distance from the Dáil, like west Cork or north Donegal, clock over €140,000 a year including expenses under just one category, the TAA, Travel and Accommodation Allowance.
The TAA is an unvouched expense that is paid based purely on how far a politician lives from Leinster House.
There are 12 bands, with those who live in Dublin, or within 25kms, paid €9,000 for their TAA, while those whose primary residence is over 360kms from the Dáil are paid €34,065.
This allowance is paid even if a TD has an apartment or other accommodation in Dublin, or stays with family or friends.
The new cost of living-busting wage is the highest pay our politicians will ever have been paid and it comes as the rest of the country struggles to deal with soaring bills and during the cost of living crisis.
It is part of a public sector pay deal, Building Momentum, that sees public sector workers receive another pay increase of 2% from March 1st - and our national politicians are considered eligible under the pact.
According to official figures received from the Houses of the Oireachtas, the pay of a TD will go up €2,105, from €105,271 today, to €107,376 per annum from tomorrow.
Senators will also enjoy the fruits of union negotiators who won agreement with Government to bump up the salaries again of all workers employed by the State.
The part-time politicians will see their basic pay go up by €1,475 overnight, from €73,726 to €75,201, along with smaller expenses entitlements than TDs.
Senators do not receive the TAA. Politicians are entitled to waive the latest rounds of pay hikes and ministers and government leaders have regularly done so in the past.
A spokeswoman for the Houses of the Oireachtas last night said: “Any Member can forfeit any % of salary.”
The pay hikes for politicians comes just a week after the latest cost of living summer supports package announced by the Government proved a damp squib for ‘squeezed middle’ workers.
The big winners were pensioners, parents and welfare recipients who will receive cash bonuses, while renters, people with no kids and motorists were left hanging once again.
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