The total cost of 43 Fermanagh and Omagh District Councillors for the 2022-23 tax year was £728,233.86.

The figures are released annually by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and detail the payments made to councillors who served on the Council during that 12-month period.

The basic allowance for councillors is £16,394, and the total for the 43 councillors was £653,864. Councillors Howard Thornton, Roy Crawford, Rosemary Barton, Bert Wilson, Siobhán Currie and Debbie Coyle did not receive full allowances as they were not in the role of councillor for the full year.

In addition to the allowance, a total of £24,705 was paid in mileage allowance, £28,909 was paid in special responsibility allowances which covers councillors who chair committees or lead their party grouping within the Council.

The Chairperson allowance was £10,000, with Councillor Barry McElduff receiving £8,295 and his predecessor, Errol Thompson, receiving £1,705.

The Vice-Chairperson allowance was £5,000, with Councillor Allan Rainey MBE receiving £4,148, with his predecessor, Councillor Chris McCaffrey, receiving £852.

It brings the total personal allowances for councillors to £697,772.

Councillor McElduff, who was Chair for the majority of the 2022-23 tax year, also had the highest mileage allowance, of £5,838, followed by Councillor Rainey with £3,658.

Omagh DEA Councillor Thompson was next with £2,144 in expenses, with Erne West Councillor Alex Baird receiving £2,144.

Some 19 councillors did not receive any mileage allowance in the 2022-23 tax year.

£28.60 was spent on public travel and other travel incidentals, while £61.26 was spent on subsistence.

In relation to Councillors’ Support Services funded by the Council, £3,876 was spent on communications and support, £889 on general secretarial services, and £901 on courses, conferences and visits.

Compared to the tax year 2021-22, figures have risen.

Total personal allowances in 2021-22 were £661,224, compared to £697,722, with the basic allowance increasing from £617,436 to £653,864.

The mileage allowance more than doubled, from £10,801 in 2021-22 to £24,705 in the last tax year.