Which party will you give your #1 preference to in the upcoming European election

What kind of salary + expenses do MEPs get in 2024?

I know Padraig Flynn said back in the 90's he struggled to run three houses three cars and three housekeepers the poor chap and he now gets nearly a 90k a year pension.

So being an MEP must be a nice little earner in 2024 compared to the 90's.

Interesting poll. Confirms that boards.ie is well to the right of the general population.

Well if you hate it now, you'll hate it even more if SF get in.

Just Boards?

Yeah I mean why would anyone be bothered about politicians racking up huge expenses staying in nice places in Brussels/Strasbourg and dining out in fine restaurants.

All of course working hard for us, the little people.

Imagine how much worse off we would be without them out there fighting for us.

I mean without them the country would be full of unvetted immigrants for all over the world, we would have signed up to continously taking tranches of those immigrants for years to come, the farmers would be facing having chunks of their land rewilded and their herds decimated, the commuters would be facing huge taxes on carbon to meet EU emission targets over the next 6 years.

Fecking hell it is a good thing they are there.

Of course one has to add our governments are ably helping them in their endeavours.

I have to say, the poll is reflecting what I'm seeing as well…a lot of anger and disillusionment out there from very normal people who would normally be Fg/Ff/(insert most popular lefty party of the day) type of voter.

Like March, there is a spanking coming for all major parties.

MEP allowances:

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/faq/9/allowances

In addition to their salary, MEPs are - like Members of national parliaments, entitled to allowances that cover expenditure incurred in the performance of their parliamentary duties, often away from home. All figures below are as of 01/01/2024.

General expenditure allowance

The general expenditure allowance (€4 950 per month), or GEA, is a flat-rate sum allowing MEPs to cover expenses such as office rental in the Member State in which they are elected, such as IT hardware and software, office supplies, mobile phones/subscriptions and internet subscriptions.

For MEPs, it is important to be able to organise such activities in their constituency, locally, and not only in Brussels, and Strasbourg. The rules and purposes of the GEA are laid down in the Statute for Members and implementation rules are set by the Bureau.

The lump sum payment is used in order to safeguard the independence of the mandate and because this form of payment is the most cost-effective.

Last revision increases transparency with a simplified list of the types of costs covered. MEPs can publish their expenses online in a transparent and accessible manner.

MEPs receive half the allowance if they, without proper justification, attend fewer than half the plenary sittings in one parliamentary year (September to August)

Daily allowance

The daily allowance (€350 per day), also known as the subsistence allowance, is a flat-rate sum covering accommodation, meals and related expenses each day that an MEP is at the European Parliament on official business.

MEPs must sign an attendance register while there are exemptions for the President and parliamentary group leaders.

MEPs receive half the daily allowance if they miss more than half the roll-call votes on days when plenary votes are held, even if they are present and sign the attendance register.

For meetings outside the EU, the allowance is halved.

Travel expenses

To and from the European Parliament:

The European Parliament covers the cost of travel to allow MEPs to participate in European Parliament meetings, like plenary, committee and group meetings. They mainly take place in Brussels or Strasbourg.

MEPs are refunded the actual cost of travel tickets for attending the meetings, upon submission of receipts.

Ceilings are set to a up to a maximum of business class (“D” fare class or similar) air fare, first class rail ticket, or €0.58 per km for car journeys (up to a maximum of 1000KM). The European Parliament issues tickets.

In addition, set amounts based on journey distance and duration to cover miscellaneous travel expenses (motorway tolls, excess baggage charges, reservation fees, etc.).

Official travel

During the exercise of their mandate, MEPs can travel beyond EP's places of works for different reasons while representing the EP: in the frame of committee fact-finding missions or committee delegations or official delegations to third countries mainly. These trips are organised following the EP Rules of Procedure and Bureau rules. Travel expenses fall under the budget of the committee or the delegation organising it.

Individual travel

Additionally, MEPs can organise travels on their behalf to carry out official duties. Members are often required to travel within and outside the Member State in which they are elected to carry out official duties as well as for other reasons (for example, to attend a conference or take part in a working visit).

For commitments in the MEP’s Member State, the Parliament only reimburses travel expenses up to a maximum annual amount determined on a country-by-country basis.

For commitments abroad - that are not as part of official Parliament meetings - MEPs may seek reimbursement for travel, accommodation and related expenses in other countries up to a maximum yearly amount of €4 886.

Medical expenses

MEPs are entitled to a reimbursement of two-thirds of their medical expenses. Apart from the proportion of reimbursement, the detailed rules and procedures of this system are the same as that which covers EU civil servants.

End-of-term allowance

At the end of their term in office, MEPs are entitled to a transitional allowance, equivalent to one month’s salary per year they were in office for up to two years maximum.

When a former MEP takes office elsewhere, the new salary offsets against the transitional allowance.

If the MEP is simultaneously entitled to an old age or invalidity pension, they cannot receive both and must choose one or the other.

Other entitlements

MEPs may make use of official vehicles to attend meetings or events in Brussels or Strasbourg.

Ciaran Mullooly and Independent Ireland for me. Second preference to Aontu. Probably won't bother adding any preferences after that.

Same, love a credible center left option who are anti mass migration… but… no point in longing for what won't be an option...

I wanna tell you, try it some time

1. Thanks for thinking my responses sound so sophisticated that they sound like they were from a bot.
2. It’s not a gravy train for people at the top of their profession to be compensated well. Your average man terminology connected to the masses act doesn’t undermine my point. People at the top end of their profession should be compensated with top end salaries.
3. Brian Crowley- so he claimed he didn’t have to mandatorily submit his expenses. There are audits and checks on staff expenses which account for the largest part of those expenses if not the MEPs own travel, office supplies etc., expenses. MEPs have an annual budget of up to 300k for staff salaries and expenses. They must submit contracts, pay slips, and proof of work to claim these allowances. These documents are audited to ensure compliance with rules and prevent misuse of funds.

You're quoting a post stating that the general populace are not actually that right wing.

The userbase of this site has been significantly to the right of the general populace for probably about a decade at this stage; e.g. the >50% Casey polls back in 2018.

Anyone but them far right Trump type idiots …. leave them to Sean Uisci, Gemmaroid, Professor Dolly and Enoch Burke and his family ….

I was reading that there's a large number of misfits standing for election from these parties (as you would nearly expect) : petty criminals, fellas with barring orders taken out by their ex-partners, drug users and the rest….you couldn't really call them prospective 'politicians'. In that sense, they are completely outside the mainstream, just as they claim.

And yet the boards poll on the two referendums was bang on the money. Did only boardsies vote on that day I wonder.