Kerry TDs spent over €120,000 in the leadup to the 2020 General Election.
Expenses incurred by Kerry TDs during the three-week window prior to the election last year have been released by SIPO.
Among a number of functions, SIPO, the Standards in Public Office Commission, monitors compliance around candidates' expenses in relation to elections.
Kerry's five elected TDs submitted expense reports following the general election, which took place on the 8th February, 2020.
In total, €121,790 was spent by the five TDs: Sinn Féin's Pa Daly spent €32,600; Independent Michael Healy-Rae spent €30,800; Fine Gael's Brendan Griffin had €22,700 in expenses; Fianna Fáil's Norma Foley spent €20,100, while Independent Danny Healy-Rae accumulated €15,400 in costs.
These costs were not taken from public funds, although reimbursements of up to €8,700 can be sought.
All five Kerry TDs were well below the allowable limit of €45,200, while deputies Griffin, Daly and Foley assigned varying amounts of spending to their respective parties.
Over €27,000 was spent collectively on advertising, with over €11,000 shared between the Kerry's Eye and the Kerryman newspapers.
Over €48,000 was spent on posters, one-third of which was by deputy Pa Daly.
Deputy Michael Healy-Rae paid the Brand Geeks over €6,000 for services, Pa Daly was the only successful candidate to pay for Facebook advertising, while no Kerry TD spent money on market research.
Fianna Fáil's Norma Foley and Fine Gael's Brendan Griffin spent the two highest amounts on advertising, €7,200 and €6,500 respectively.
You can find more details on sipo.ie.
