Influential Committee To Call For Independence Of TD Expenses Decisions

TDs' expenses and allowances should be set by an independent commission and taken entirely out of the hands of politicians, a powerful Dail committee is expected to recommend.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will publish its report on public sector allowances on Thursday, and is expected to direct most of its criticisms at the system of Oireachtas payments.

It is understood that the report has been largely unchanged since its contents were first reported in the Irish Independent last week.

However, at its final meeting before publishing the report, members of the PAC are thought to have beefed up calls for an independent commission to set TD expenses.

The levels are currently set by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, but the report will say: "It is the view of the committee that the level of any expenses or allowances paid to Oireachtas members should be determined entirely independently."

Sources say this could involve independently establishing how much value to put on a TD's work, as well as travel and the cost of running constituency offices.

"It would be benchmarked," one source said. "The only fear is that a commission could increase what we get. It costs a lot to run a constituency office."

The report will be passed to Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin, but he does not have to act on its recommendations. However, it is understood Mr Howlin is considering changes to TDs' expenses in the Budget.

(H)