Oireachtas (Allowances To Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary, Judicial and Court Offices (Amendment) Act, 1998

PART II

Provisions Relating to Members of the Oireachtas and Parliamentary and Ministerial Offices

Allowances to whips and others.

3.—(1) The Government may, by order—

(a) provide for the payment, to the extent specified in the order, to a member of the Oireachtas who holds the position of—

(i) Party Whip in Dáil Éireann,

(ii) Assistant Government Whip in Dáil Éireann,

(iii) Leader of the House in Seanad Éireann,

(iv) Deputy Leader of the House in Seanad Éireann,

(v) Government Whip in Seanad Éireann,

(vi) Assistant Government Whip in Seanad Éireann,

(vii) Opposition Leaders in Seanad Éireann, or

(viii) Opposition Whips in Seanad Éireann,

of an allowance in respect of the member's duties as holder of that position, and

(b) determine from time to time—

(i) the positions in respect of which an allowance is to be paid,

(ii) the rate of the allowance, and

(iii) the date from which the allowance is payable.

(2) An order under this section may provide for different rates of allowance for different positions and different dates from which the allowance is payable in respect of different positions.

(3) In this section—

“Assistant Government Whip in Dáil Éireann” means a member of Dáil Éireann nominated by the Taoiseach to be the holder of that position;

“Assistant Government Whip in Seanad Éireann”, “Deputy Leader of the House in Seanad Éireann” and “Government Whip in Seanad Éireann” mean the members of Seanad Éireann nominated by the Taoiseach to be the holders of the respective positions;

“Leader of the House in Seanad Éireann” has the meaning that “Leader of the House” has in the Standing Orders of Seanad Éireann;

“Opposition Leader in Seanad Éireann” means the member of Seanad Éireann who is the leader of a group having not less than two members in opposition in Seanad Éireann;

“Opposition Whip in Seanad Éireann” means the member of Seanad Éireann who is the whip of a group not having less than two members in opposition in Seanad Éireann;

“Party Whip in Dáil Éireann” means the 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.