S.I. No. 530/2025 - Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Secretarial Facilities) (Amendment) Regulations 2025

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 7th November, 2025.

The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by—

(a) subsection (1)(c) (inserted by the Oireachtas (Miscellaneous Provisions) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act 1996 (No. 39 of 1996)) of section 2 of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act 1962 (No. 32 of 1962),

(b) section 10 (5) and (13) (substituted by section 2 of the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2014 (No. 6 of 2014)) of the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act 1938 (No. 38 of 1938), and

(c) section 4 (3) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003 (No. 28 of 2003),

hereby makes the following regulations:

Citation and commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Secretarial Facilities) (Amendment) Regulations 2025.

(2) The following are deemed to have come into force on 23 September 2025:

(a) Regulation 4;

(b) Regulation 2, to the extent that it defines the term “Principal Regulations” for the purposes of Regulation 4.

Definition

2. In these Regulations, “Principal Regulations” means the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Secretarial Facilities) Regulations 2025 ( S.I. No. 332 of 2025 ).

Insertion of Regulation 8A and Part 3 of Schedule 3 into the Principal Regulations

3. The Principal Regulations are amended—

(a) by the insertion of the following Regulation after Regulation 8:

“8A. Each qualifying party specified in the left-hand column of the Table in Part 3 of Schedule 3 (inserted by Regulation 3(b) of the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Secretarial Facilities) (Amendment) Regulations 2025) to these Regulations is entitled to be paid, having regard to the general elections held for members of each of the Houses of the Oireachtas and the nomination of members of Seanad Éireann as a consequence of the Proclamation issued on 8 November 2024 dissolving Dáil Éireann, and consonant with the allocations to qualifying parties made by Regulation 8, the amount specified in the right-hand column of that Table opposite the mention of that qualifying party in the corresponding left-hand column, to reimburse the increase in the period between 1 December 2024 and the coming into force of these Regulations in the expenditure incurred by the qualifying party in respect of secretarial facilities by way of employees.”,

and

(b) by the insertion of the following Table as Part 3 of Schedule 3 immediately following Part 2 (substituted by paragraph (e) of Regulation 4) of that Schedule—

“PART 3

Amounts payable to qualifying parties pursuant to Regulation 8A (inserted by Regulation 3(a) of the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Secretarial Facilities) (Amendment) Regulations 2025) are set out below—

”.

Varied allocation of secretarial facilities by way of employees to certain Groups and Qualifying Parties

4. The Principal Regulations are amended—

(a) by the insertion in subparagraph (a) of Regulation 4(4) of “but subject to paragraph (4A)” after “Without prejudice to any of the foregoing”,

(b) by the insertion of the following as paragraph (4A) of Regulation 4—

“(4A) (a) Notwithstanding anything in paragraph (4), subparagraph (b) applies where a member of Dáil Éireann has been appointed as its co-ordinator by—

(i) the Group commonly known as the Independent and Parties Technical Group, or

(ii) the Group commonly known as the Independent Technical Group.

(b) Where a member of Dáil Éireann has been appointed by a Group specified in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (a) of this paragraph as its co-ordinator, the Commission may, upon the written application of that member, and with the consent of the Commission, provide the member with further secretarial facilities by way of employees—

(i) up to and including one administrative assistant full-time equivalent if and so long as the relevant clause of subparagraph (a) applies to that member, and

(ii) up to and including 2 administrative assistant full-time equivalents if and so long as both clause (i) of paragraph (4)(a) of this Regulation and the relevant clause of subparagraph (a) of this paragraph apply to that member.”,

(c) by—

(i) the substitution in paragraph (3) of Regulation 6 of “Regulation 4(4) or (4A)” for “Regulation 4(4)” where reference to that Regulation 4(4) first appears in Regulation 6, and

(ii) the insertion in paragraph (3)(a) of Regulation 6 of “or under Regulation 4(4A)” after “Regulation 4(4)”,

(d) by the substitution in each of subparagraphs (a) and (d) of Regulation 8(3) of “either Part 1 or Part 2 of Schedule 3” for “either part of Schedule 3”,

and

(e) by the substitution of the following Table as Part 2 of Schedule 3—

“PART 2

Allocations of secretarial facilities to qualifying parties specified pursuant to Regulation 8(2) are set out below—

”.

The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Seal,

Affixed hereto

Was authenticated by

Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission:

6^th November 2025.

VERONA MURPHY,

CEANN COMHAIRLE.

Member of staff of the Commission authorised by the Commission:

6^th November 2025.

ANNE-MARIE FAHY,

Secretary,

Houses of the Oireachtas Commission.