Green Party Parliamentary Whip, Ciarán Cuffe TD expressed disappointment that other political parties had sought to object the process of reductions and said the Commission could go further in its cuts.

Deputy Cuffe said: "Initially the Green Party was disappointed with the first set of proposals put forward by the Houses of Oireachtas Commission and we welcome the second set published last night, which look at daily allowances, mileage, postage and the number of Oireachtas Committees. The Green Party has long campaigned against the current process of claiming expenses, which represent poor value for tax payer's money and is outdated.

"The Party believes that the cuts could go further however. For example, ensuring that travel expenses are paid at the lowest rate – you should not be rewarded for driving a bigger car. Introducing changes to pensions for TDs who receive Ministerial pensions once they've left the Ministry would be welcome as would ensuring teachers who become TDs give up their posts to allow other teachers fill the permanent role. We welcome that there are proposals to deduct for non-attendance to the Dáil and Seanad.

"These are the first significant reforms of the expenses regime in the Oireachtas and it is worrying that other parties sought to block some of the proposals for reductions. The whole process could have been brought about much more quickly, if agreement had been reached on the urgency of these cuts. "I look forward to the implementation of the proposals by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan and hope that he can go even further, than what has been outlined by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission."