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Teachta Dála

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A Teachta Dála (Irish pronunciation: [ˈtʲaxtə ˈdɑːlə]) is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower chamber of the Oireachtas (Parliament) of Ireland. The official translation of Teachta Dála is Deputy to the Dáil,[1] a more literal translation is Assembly Delegate. In English the abbreviation TD is normally used, with TDs as the plural (Irish: Teachtaí Dála).

History

The term was first used to describe those Irish parliamentarians[2] that were elected at the 1918 general election, who rather than attending the British House of Commons in London, to which they had been elected, assembled instead in Dublin's Mansion House on 21 January 1919 to create a new Irish parliament: Dáil Éireann. The term continued to be used after this "First Dáil" and was used to refer to later members of the Irish Republic's single chamber Dáil Éireann (or "Assembly of Ireland") (1919–1922), members of Dáil Éireann (or "Chamber of Deputies") of the Irish Free State (1922–1937), and Dáil Éireann (or the "House of Representatives") of Ireland.

Style

The initials "TD" are placed after the surname of the elected TD. For example, the current Taoiseach (head of government) is "Brian Cowen, TD". The style used to refer to individual TDs during debates in Dáil Éireann is the member's name preceded by Deputy (Irish: an Teachta): for example, "Deputy Kenny", "an Teachta Ó Cionnaith".

Salaries and expenses

  • Basic Salary: €100,191[3]
  • Mobile Phone Allowance: A maximum of €750 every 18 months[citation needed]
  • Constituency Office maintenance allowance: €8,888.17[citation needed]
  • Constituency Travel Allowance: ranging from €2,475 to €8,782 depending on size of constituency[citation needed]
  • Daily Allowance: €61.53 for members who live within 24 km from Leinster House[citation needed]
  • Miscellaneous expense allowance: €5,489.08[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Deputy to Dáil Éireann – Teachta Dála". Houses of the Oireachtas. Retrieved 3 September 2007.
  2. ^ 73 out of 105 seats won in Ireland at the 1918 general election were by Sinn Féin members. Unionist and Irish Parliamentary Party members refused to recognise the Dáil, and so did not attend.
  3. ^ "Pay increase to push TD salaries over €100,000". Irish Times. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
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