A parliamentary question posed by a Fine Gael TD last week revealed that the taxpayer shells out almost €200,000 per year to fund Minister Éamon Ó Cuív's constituency workforce.

This is separate from his work as a minister and means that he has five people (three civil servants and two non-civil servants) to answer queries from his constituents and assist with running his constituency office.

All TDs are entitled to two staff members, one parliamentary assistant and a secretarial assistant, to help with their workload, although the parliamentary assistant is usually based in the Dáil and does not carry out constituency work. Ministers are entitled to more staff although numbers vary.The Taoiseach has eight people, all State funded, to work in his constituency office alone.

Minister of State Michael Kitt also has three clerical officers to work on his constituency business, as well as two assistants.

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