Sales in the two bars in Leinster House rose by over 25 per cent on the day the Dáil started to debate two major bills related to the Budget.
Sales in the bar reserved only for TDs and Senators were 27 per cent higher on the day the Finance Bill was being discussed, compared to a similar day the month previously.
Figures released to Today FM under the Freedom of Information Act show that on November 6th - the day the Dáil debated two key pieces of legislation relating to the Budget - takings at the two bars were 32 per cent higher than on a comparable day a month earlier.
Sales in the visitors bar were up by 37 per cent - although those sales can be skewed by outside groups who might be visiting on any one day, as well as the fact that this bar also serves food at lunchtime and is open to civil servants and other staff in Leinster House such as journalists.
But in the Members' bar - which is open only to TDs and Senators, and where visitors are not allowed, but is also understood to serve food - sales were 27 per cent higher.
The members' bar took in €733 on November 6th, the day that the Dáil began its main debates on both the Finance Bill and the Social Welfare Bill, both of which are fundamental parts of the Budget.
That's compared to €574 three weeks earlier, on a similar business day when the Dáil was also in session.
Labour TD Joanna Tuffy explained that the increase may have been because the debate on the Finance Bill culminated in a vote which required TDs to be on the premises for longer than they may otherwise be on a Thursday afternoon.
@gavreilly the explanation is that on Thurs Nov 6 there was a vote at 3.20pm on Finance bill and TDs that would normally have left at 1/2
— Joanna Tuffy TD (@joannatuffytd) December 22, 2014
@gavreilly 2/2 lunchtime to travel to their constituencies would have had to stay for vote and takings would include lunches.
— Joanna Tuffy TD (@joannatuffytd) December 22, 2014
While TDs were indeed required to stay in Leinster House that afternoon to participate in the Finance Bill vote, a similar vote was scheduled on the comparable day three weeks' previously.
On the afternoon of October 16, TDs were due in Leinster House to vote on amendments to the European Stability Mechanism Bill - the law which will officially allow Ireland to seek an EU deal on its legacy banking debts.
Meanwhile there was no major increase in sales in either of the two bars on the day of Sinn Féin's now infamous "sit-in".
In actual fact, when compared to an ordinary Thursday four weeks earlier, sales were down across the two bars on the day the Dáil clocked off four hours early.
