Political parties received more than €12.5m in State funding last year, according to figures released today by the Standards in Public Office Commission.
Six qualifying parties benefited from €7.5m in funding under the Party Leader's Allowance, and another €5.2m under the Electoral Acts.
The money is granted in accordance with the number of TDs and Senators each party has, and the percentage of the vote it received in the preceding general election.
The money cannot be used for election or referendum expenses, and is spent on administration, policy formulation and staff for its parliamentary work.
In 2006, Fianna Fáil received a total of €4.9m, Fine Gael €3.3m, Labour €2.1m, the PDs €800,000, the Greens €700,000, Sinn Féin €770,000, and the Socialist Party €64,000.
Independent TDs and Senators shared just over €500,000 between them.
Under the existing rules, the PDs face a drop in their funding from €800,000 to around €340,000 per year.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael's funding will be boosted by at least an extra €500,000 thanks to its extra 20 TDs.
