Social Democrats continued to claim TD's allowance despite suspension
Despite Hayes declaring that he would sit as an independent TD from December 18, the party has claimed payments for him under the parliamentary activities allowance (PAA) scheme since January 2025. Last Friday, the party lifted his suspension.
The PAA is paid to parties to support parliamentary work, with funding based on their number of elected representatives to the Dail and Seanad. From January to June 2025, the Social Democrats received €424,696.10 for its 11 TDs and one senator.
Had the party excluded Hayes from its PAA claims, its total funding for the year would have dropped by €60,189.
A spokeswoman for the Social Democrats told The Sunday Times: 'Like all political parties, the Social Democrats are in receipt of state money which is allocated on the basis of electoral performance in the general election.'
Hayes, who returned to the party on July 25 after donating $51,000 to three humanitarian organisations active in Gaza, confirmed that the PAA claim has not affected him personally.
'As a Social Democrats TD, despite my suspension, the party is entitled to claim the allowance,' he said.
'If I had formally left the party or was an independent, I would be entitled to a personal allowance of around €40,000 annually … I have never sought that.'
Hayes was suspended after it was revealed he failed to sell shares in Palantir Technologies, a US firm that provides software to the Israeli military, until a month after he was elected as a city councillor in June 2024.
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