Elliott tops expenses bill for MLAs which exceeded £400,000 this year
Rodney Edwards • Published 13 Jul 2012 13:00
0 Comments
FERMANAGH South Tyrone MLA Tom Elliott has topped the expenses bill for 2011/12. Indeed, the total expenses for all our MLAs was £419,670.58 for the financial year 2011/12.
The individual breakdowns are as follows and do not include the wages earned.
Tom Elliott
Expenses paid to Mr. Elliott in the last year from the Northern Ireland Assembly amounted to £78,071.94.
The former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party claimed office costs of £69,031.55 (including £34,199.77 on support staff costs), travel expenses of £7,121.20 and £1,919.19 in other expenditure.
According to figures released by Stormont, Mr. Elliott's BT bill cost £1,077,43 while his Orange mobile phone bill for the financial year was £921.19.
He spent £84.71 on ink and £28.72.on stationary.
Rent for Mr. Elliott's office at 1 Regal Pass, Enniskillen amounted to £10,507 while rent for his other office at 20 Brooke Street, Dungannon added up to £3,750. His rates bill for the office was £496.60. Electricity bills for both properties came to £755.61.
Arlene Foster
DUP MLA Arlene Foster claimed back £350 in expenses for shelving her Enniskillen office.
The politician's total expenses for 2011/12 added up to £77,445.98.
Mrs. Foster claimed £73,308.88 in office costs (including £47,224.18 in support staff costs) and £831.10 in travel expenses - this amount is smaller than other MLAs because her travel expenses as Enterprise Minister are covered by her Department.
Other expenditure amounted to £3,306.
Rent for her DUP offices in 32a New Street, Enniskillen, 2A Crevenish Road, Kesh and 116 Main Street, Lisnaskea added up to £16,400 and the rates bills came to £3,369.37. Bills for water and electricity added up to £1,184.86.
Mrs. Foster's claimed £239.98 back on her Orange phone bill over the year, £1,622,10 on her BT phone bill, £128.68 on stationary and £239.98 on two filing cabinets.
Paying L.E Graphics to have a website developed (including hosting and domain name) came to £690 and decorating her office (including £350 on shelving) cost £1,365.
Phil Flanagan
SINN Fein MLA Phil Flanagan spent £36,186.16 on getting his Enniskillen office just right, including £117.21 on a mat and £110.27 on a refrigerator.
The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA claimed back a total of £43,358.80 in expenses (including £25,864.89 in support staff costs), £5,423.00 in travel expenses and £1,749.64 in other expenditure.
Mr. Flanagan purchased 10 chairs costing £252, a workstation (a desk) costing £302.40, a "literature organiser" costing £150.34, a guillotine at £55.72 and two flasks at £167.90, according to figures released by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
He also got a wall plaque with his name on it produced by the Print Factory, costing £96, and shutters for his office at Market Street, Enniskillen for £600. Rent for the office added up to £2,927.42 and rates added up to £769.89.
Mr. Flanagan's 02 mobile phone bill amounted to £598.06 and his BT bill was £83.20.
Payment for Power NI (£268.48) and heating oil (£908.45) were also claimed for. He also spent £1,706.42 on stationery, including claiming back 36p.
Gerry McHUgh/Tommy Gallagher
IT cost £45,076.26 to 'wind up' the offices of former MLAs Gerry McHugh and Tommy Gallagher, it has been revealed.
In accounts released by the Northern Ireland Assembly, Tommy Gallagher claimed back £22,650.46 to close his office at 39 Darling Street, Enniskillen, while Gerry McHugh spent £22,425.80 on winding his office up at 8 Queen Street, Enniskillen.
Mr. Gallagher spent £14,667.56 in support staff costs.
The remainder of his winding up expenditure was spent on bills, including £1,795.00 in office removal, £2,348.37 in rent and rates, £2,284.80 in travel expenses, £230.54 in utility bills and £114.00 in having "confidential waste" shredded by Shred-It Northern Ireland.
His BT bill came to £1,018.11 and his o2 mobile phone bill came to £126.84.
Gerry McHugh's winding up expenditure included £18,863.94 in support staff costs and £2,697.96 in rent and rates.
Other bills included BT (£466.16), Northern Ireland Water (£35.25), Power NI £218.01 and waste collection (£325.51).
Michelle Gildernew
Former Sinn Fein MLA Michelle Gildernew claimed back £49,960.03 in 2011/12.
Ms. Gildernew's total office costs amounted to £41,517.52 (including £31,033.49 in support staff costs), £4,752.45 in travel costs and £3,690.06 in other expenditure.
Rent for her constituency office at 60 Irish Street, Dungannon added up to £10,400.
Maurice Morrow
Lord Maurice Morrow, DUP MLA, claimed back £75,767.08 in expenses, including £600.00 in accountancy fees and £31.50 for window cleaning.
Mr. Morrow's office costs amounted to £72,422.43, including £57,170.78 in support staff costs.
He claimed back £2,970.25 in travel and £374.40 in other expenditure.
Assembly figures show rent for his office at 19 Church Street, Dungannon amounted to £7,612.50 and rates added up to £1,881.90.
Other bills included Northern Ireland Electricity/Power NI (£675.28), heating oil (£975), alarm maintenance (£564.00) and TV Licensing (£145.50). His o2 phone bill was £821.31 and telephone services from BT/Rainbow added up to £744.01.
Sean Lynch
Sean Lynch, Sinn Fein MLA, spent £1000 on hiring Mullaghboy Cleaning Services for his Lisnaskea office during the financial year 2011/12 and £150 on pest control.
Mr. Lynch's total expenses released by Stormont amounted to £57,167.13, including £49,311.18 (£30,481.78 on support staff costs) on office expenses and £7,855.95 on other expenditure.
£930 was spent on installing a telephone system and £935.92 was spent on stationary.
Mr. Lynch also purchased two noticeboards (£462.14), 35 chairs (£1,370.28), two dry-wipe boards (£291.50), a camcorder and case (£439.14), a literature organiser (£150.34), a hard-drive (£87.31), a desk (£476.40), a projector screen (£69.84) and a vacuum cleaner (£103.64).
His o2 phone bill amounted to £663.64 and his bill for telephone services (supplied by Rainbow) came to £538.25.
Other bills included Airtricity (£937.13), office insurance (£376), heating oil (£815), rates for Main Street, Lisnaskea (£1,408.02), and rent (£4,732). Mr. Lynch also spent £1,080 on shutters and £1,480 on painting his office.
This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 12 Jul 12
Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.
