S.I. No. 327 of 2009

OIREACHTAS (ALLOWANCES TO MEMBERS) (CONSTITUENCY TELEPHONE ALLOWANCE) REGULATIONS 2009

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 21st August, 2009.

I, BRIAN LENIHAN, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 2(2) (inserted by section 3 of the Oireachtas (Miscellaneous Provisions) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act 1996 (No. 39 of 1996)) of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act 1962 (No. 32 of 1962), hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) (Constituency Telephone Allowance) Regulations 2009.

2. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), a Constituency Telephone Allowance shall be payable in respect of each year as follows:

(a) to a member of Dáil Éireann, an amount of €5,700,

(b) to a member of Seanad Éireann, an amount of €4,300,

(c) to a member, who is also the holder of a scheduled office, an additional amount of €1,100 in respect of each such office held by the member,

(d) to a member of Dáil Éireann, who is a party whip in Dáil Éireann, an additional amount of €1,100, and

(e) to a member of Dáil Éireann, who is an assistant party whip in Dáil Éireann, nominated by a person referred to in subparagraph (d) who is the Government chief whip and who opts not to be paid the amount referred to in that subparagraph, an additional amount of €1,100.

(2) The payment of Constituency Telephone Allowance is subject to the following exceptions, restrictions and conditions:

(a) the allowance shall be paid in four instalments at the following times:

(i) on or after 31 March,

(ii) on or after 30 June,

(iii) on or after 30 September, and

(iv) on or after 15 December,

(b) notwithstanding subparagraph (a), an instalment of the allowance shall be paid no later than 3 months after each of the dates specified in clauses (i) to (iv) of that subparagraph, as appropriate,

(c) the allowance shall not be payable in respect of any period during which the person concerned was not, as the case may be, a member, a holder of a scheduled office, a party whip in Dáil Éireann or a person nominated under paragraph (1)(e), and

(d) where, in any year, a member exceeds the limit specified in Regulation 3(e) of the Regulations of 1998, the amount of the allowance shall be reduced by an amount equal to such amount (if any) of that excess that the member has not paid to the appropriate authority.

(3) Regulation 4 of the Regulations of 1998 is revoked.

(4) In this Regulation-

"Regulations 1998" means Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) (Telephone and Postal Facilities) Regulations 1998 ( S.I. No. 99 of 1998 );

"scheduled office" and "appropriate authority" have the meanings assigned to them, respectively, in the Regulations of 1998.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

5 August 2009.

BRIAN LENIHAN,

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation)

This Regulation reduces the amounts of the constituency telephone allowances.