Politicians spent €165,000 on printing cards, calendars, and newsletters in 2021, all funded by taxpayers.
As reported in the Irish Times, materials were printed free of charge by the Oireachtas printing service.
According to the new figures, Fine Gael was the top spending party, with €55,228 worth of printing expenses in 2021. Fianna Fáil was just behind its coalition partner with €33,122, while Sinn Féin made orders worth €30,188. Printing costs for the Green Party came in at €14,147.
The TD found to have used the free printer the most was Fine Gael's Alan Farrell who had printing requests which cost €6,724, including 230,000 newsletters.
Mr Farrell's colleague, Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond, was the second-biggest user of the free printer in the Dáil with printing requests worth €6,059.
Meanwhile, Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin came in third place with costs of €4,593.
Politicians who spent the least on printing included Fianna Fáil’s Seán Haughey, with a bill of €27 and Fine Gael’s Charlie Flanagan who had printing requests worth just €29.
The new figures also reveal how 14 TDs and Ministers spent nearly €900 printing Christmas cards.
Fine Gael TD Paul Kehoe ordered 2,000 cards worth over €100 while Independent TD Danny Healy Rae, Sinn Féin TD Chris Andrews, and Fine Gael’s Brendan Griffin all printed 1,500 cards costing more than €85.
Meanwhile, a number of Ministers also made use of the free printer to organise Christmas cards. Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris and ordered 1,000 cards worth just under €70, as did Minister for Justice Helen McEntee. Tánaiste Leo Varadkar ordered 500 cards at a cost of €50.
The figures were released under the Freedom of Information Act.
