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A Teachta Dála ( /ˌtjɒxtə ˈdɔːlə/ TYOKH-tə DAW-lə, Irish: [ˌtʲaxt̪ˠə ˈd̪ˠaːlˠa] ;[1] plural Teachtaí Dála), abbreviated as TD (plural TDanna in Irish,[2] TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as Member of Parliament (MP) or Member of Congress used in other countries. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil",[3] although a more literal translation is "Assembly Delegate".[4][failed verification]
Ireland is divided into Dáil constituencies, each of which elects three, four, or five TDs. Under the Constitution, the total number of TDs must be fixed at one TD for each 20,000 to 30,000 of the population.[3] There are 160 TDs in the 33rd Dáil, elected at the 2020 general election under the Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017. At the 2024 general election, under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2023, there will be 174 TDs. The outgoing Ceann Comhairle is automatically returned unless they announce their retirement before the dissolution of the Dáil.
A candidate for election as TD must be an Irish citizen and over 21 years of age. Members of the judiciary, the Garda Síochána, and the Defence Forces are disqualified from membership of the Dáil.[5]
The term was first used to describe those Irish parliamentarians[6] who were elected at the 1918 general election, and who, rather than attending the British House of Commons at Westminster, to which they had been elected, assembled instead in the Mansion House in Dublin on 21 January 1919 to create a new Irish parliament: the First Dáil Éireann. Initially, the term Feisire Dáil Eireann (F.D.E.) was mooted,[7] but 'Teachta' was used from the first meeting.[8] 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 the Free State Dáil (1922–1937), and of the modern Dáil Éireann.
The initials "TD" are placed after the surname of the elected TD. For example, the current Taoiseach (head of government) is "Simon Harris, TD". The style used to refer to individual TDs during debates in Dáil Éireann is the member's surname preceded by Deputy (Irish: an Teachta): for example, "Deputy McDonald", "an Teachta Ní Dhomhnaill/Bhean Úi Dhomhnaill"[9] or "an Teachta Ó Domhnaill".[10]
The basic salary of a backbench TD is €113,679.[11] Cabinet ministers and junior ministers receive additional allowances. Office-holders (opposition party leaders, whips, the Ceann Comhairle, and Leas-Cheann Comhairle) also receive additional allowances.[12]
After controversy regarding alleged abuses of the Oireachtas expenses provisions, the system was simplified in 2009 and 2010 into two allowances:[13][14][15][16]
- Travel and accommodation allowance – ranging from €9,000 for TDs less than 25 km from Leinster House to €34,065 for those more than 360 km away.[16]
- Public Representation Allowance – for maintaining a constituency office; €20,350 for backbench TDs, less for ministers.[16] All expenses must be vouched, except for a "petty cash" allowance of €100 per month. Until December 2012 TDs could choose between a €25,000 vouched allowance or €15,000 unvouched.[17]
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