Independent Senator Averil Power has said that she used the Oireachtas 'in-house' printing service to print 73,000 calendars for 2016.
This follows a report by The Irish Times which gave details on politicians who used the Oireachtas service most.
It said Senator Power printed 73,000 calenders for 2016.
Fianna Fáil’s Niall Collins printed 30,000 cards and calendars, as did Fine Gael’s Kieran O’Donnell.
Minster Charles Flanagan also printed 17,500 cards and calendars.
Speaking on RTÉ’s 'News at One' programme, Senator Power said the reason why so many were printed was because Dublin Bay North is one of the biggest constituencies in the country.
She said that she has never printed Christmas cards because they have no useful public information and the calendars she printed, while personalised and include a picture of her, include local information and phone numbers and her contact details.
Senator Power said that a commercial printer quoted her with a figure of €2,700 for the 73,000 calendars, but that she expected the Oireachtas printing service to be less than that.
She said she had the calendars printed in November.
Senator Power said that she thinks the printing of Christmas cards by Oireachtas members is inappropriate and said there is a world of difference between a calendar, with useful public information, and a Christmas card.
