Outgoing Irish MEPs to share €400,000 ‘goodbye money’ from EU

Each MEP who has served five years in the EU Parliament receives a “transitional allowance” per month for five months which adds up to €51,887 before tax.

MEPs who have served two terms in the Parliament – such as Fine Gael’s outgoing MEP Deirdre Clune, who was first elected in 2014 – will be paid up to €103,774 over the next year.

Sinn Féin’s Chris MacManus, who is set to lose his seat in Midlands-North West, will get a slightly lower allowance of €41,509 because he served four full years in the Parliament after taking over Matt Carthy’s seat.

Currently, outgoing MEPs include Fine Gael’s Deirdre Clune, Colm Markey and Frances Fitzgerald; Green Party’s Ciaran Cuffe and Independents 4 Change Clare Daly.

The Irish Independent has also included Mr MacManus’ as well as Green Party’s Grace O’Sullivan so-called ‘parachute payments’ in calculations as the two are anticipated to lose their seats in the coming days.

This brings the total paid out in the next number of months to the newly unseated MEPs to just over €415,000.

However, this figure could rise as other incumbents lose their seats in the coming days as counts in Midlands-North West and Ireland South continue.

In Dublin, Ms Daly and Mr Cuffe lost their seats as incumbent Barry Andrews was elected, as well as new MEPs Regina Doherty, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin. Sinn Féin’s Lynn Boylan, is returning after losing her EU seat in 2019.

Incumbent Sean Kelly will also be returning to Brussels and Strasbourg, representing Ireland South since 2009.

“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,” said a spokesperson for the European Parliament.

“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.”

The allowance is paid to all MEPs who have served for over a year, regardless of whether they lose their seat or step down.

The monthly pre-tax salary of MEPs is €10,377.43 before tax as of January 1 this year.

After EU tax and insurance contributions, the net salary is €8,089.63 per month.

However, MEPs may also pay Irish taxes on top of that.

Former MEPs are also paid a pension when they turn 63 years of age.

This is the same as 3.5pc of their salary for each full year in office and one twelfth of the salary for each further full month. It cannot exceed more than 70pc of their salary in total and is paid out by the EU budget.

All MEPs are paid the same salary and this is set in the Statute of the Members at 38.5pc of the basic salary of a judge at the Court of Justice of the European Union, which has been in play since 2009.