County registrars, who earn a salary of up to €129,521, received on average €12,000 each for working as returning officers in elections and referendums last year.
Figures obtained by The Sunday Times show that 23 returning officers and 31 assistants earned €427,917 from last year’s general election, even though it is a statutory duty. At least another €232,000 will be paid to them for working on the presidential election and two referendums held on the same day last October.
There are 23 returning officers in the country, and last year they employed 31 temporary assistants. Nineteen of them are county registrars paid a salary of up to €129,521.
Country registrars are appointed by government and perform a quasi-judicial role in courts. Apart from those in Dublin and Cork, they are required by law to perform the role of returning officer at elections and referendums. For this the registrars receive a standing payment of €7,437 for administering the polling process and counting the votes.
A further payment of €3.94 is made for every 100 electors over 50,000 who vote in the officer’s area. For every Dail candidate who is nominated in the constituency a fee of €87.50 is made to the returning officer.
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A fee of €175 is made for dealing with postal votes and an extra €39.30 is paid for every 100 such votes received.
The returning officers get a standing €218 payment for dealing with “special voters” and €48.13 for every 100 such voters.
The Department of Finance says it has not established how much returning officers and their assistants will be paid for the presidential election and double referendum held last October but returning officers received €322,533 for the second Lisbon referendum in October 2009.
In Dublin and Cork the returning officers include four city and county sheriffs. These state employees are paid a normal retainer of €23,678 plus fee income from recovering money and assets from debtors.
A spokesman for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform said fees payable to election officers had been reduced by 28% since 2009.
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The total cost to the state of holding a referendum ranges between €17m and €22m.