A SENATOR bagged a tax-free expense top-up worth €15,545 annually after a change of address, we can reveal.

Lorraine Clifford-Lee used to claim a Travel and Accommodation Allowance of €5,250 when she was based 12.6kms from Leinster House and so fell under the Dublin band.

6 Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee

But since January 2017 the Fianna Fail rep falls instead under Band One for those living over 25kms and less than 60kms away from the Seanad.

This was after she moved from Portmarnock to Donabate, Co Dublin, and is now 26kms from the Upper House - so Ms Clifford-Lee made the cut with just one kilometre to spare.

As a result, the senator is now availing of an unvouched tax-free TAA of €20,795 annually - or €800 for each kilometre.

According to the Oireachtas, the allowance “covers the costs associated with travel to and from Leinster House, overnights and, for TDs only, other travel expenses including constituency travel. Senators are paid a reduced amount as there are no payments for constituency travel”.

As well as that cash, she and other senators are entitled to up to a maximum €12,225 as a Public Representation Allowance which is vouched.

This information was revealed to us following a Freedom of Information request.

6 Ms Lee said she and her family moved to a bigger house when she was expecting a baby

Senator Lorraine-Clifford-Lee told the Irish Sun: “We moved house.

"We were living in a two-bed in Portmarnock and were having a new baby and needed more space so moved to a bigger house.”

Asked about the expense system, she said: "I heard there has been criticism in the past.

"But I don’t really have an opinion on it other than we are asked to fill in a form.

"I filled in the form, gave it into the Oireachtas and it is what it is.

"If the rules change I would be more than happy to go along with that obviously.”

Similarly, Sinn Fein TD Louise O’Reilly has also moved bands since being elected to the Dail.

6 Sinn Fein TD Louise O'Reilly

She previously lived fewer than 25kms from her workplace, so claimed €9,000 under the Dublin rate.

But, in December 2016, she fell under Band One and was eligible for €25,295, after her distance away changed to 32kms.

There was no contact from the deputy but she previously told another newspaper: “I had to make a second declaration when I moved house.

"When my normal place of residence changed, that’s what we had to do.

"Once I moved house, I changed that - I filled out the form. I haven’t done anything that was not in line with procedures.”

She - like other TDs who are not ministers or ministers of state - is also able to claim a maximum of a fully-vouched €20,350 as a public representation allowance for all deputies.

Ministers and Ministers of State instead can get €12,225.

6 Limerick Fine Gael TD and former Minister for Finance Michael Noonan

The data also shows Fine Gael TD Michael Noonan moved up to Band Six from Band Seven in October 2017, so he's claiming an extra €335 as he now gets €30,685 instead of €30,350 a year.

His new home is 237kms away - up from 203kms.

He told the Irish Sun: “I changed house.”

Asked if the expense regime was fair, the former Finance Minister said: “I don’t know. I have nothing to do with designing it. I comply with whatever the rule is. I don’t have a view.”

Fianna Fail TD Marc MacSharry also moved from Band Six to Band Seven when he moved six kilometres in September 2016, from Ransboro to Standhill in Co Sligo - going from 207 to 213.5kms from Dail Eireann.

He explained: "I wanted to stay in the same area. The Oireachtas told me to clock it and that was the outcome.”

6 Fianna Fail TD Marc MacSharry

Fine Gael Senator Ray Butler changed home in September 2017, going from Trim to Athboy, Co Meath - so he has gone from being 48kms to 61kms away from the Dail.

He explained he moved homes for “private” reasons and had not really considered the expense regime in place.

This puts him in Band Two (€22,815) instead of Band One (€20,795) meaning he gets an extra annual €2,020.

Three other reps ended up in higher bands after the Oireachtas checked their details and discovered they should be claiming bigger expenses.

Sinn Fein Senator Rose Conway-Walsh went from Band Seven to Band 10 in December 2017, so now gets €28,215 instead of €26,184 - an extra €2,031.

She had filed for being 235kms away, but her address in Drum, Clogher, Ballina, Co Mayo, was in fact 308kms away.

6 Fine Gael senator Ray Butler

She told us: “Apparently I under-calculated the distance used in 2016.

"This was corrected using Google Maps in 2017 as advised by Oireachtas in the interest of accuracy.”

A similar change happened for Sinn Fein TD Pat Buckley who in January 2017 went from Band Seven (€30,685) to Band Eight (€31,365) getting an extra €680.

He had filed he was 211kms away from the Dail but the TD, based in Midleton, Co Cork, was in fact 246kms away.

He explained: “I miscalculated it and it was flagged up to me at the end of the year. They flagged it with me and I wasn’t even aware. They contacted me.”

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Similarly, Fianna Fail TD Declan Breathnach went from Band Two (€27,315) to Band Three (28,665) in January 2018.

His address in Knockbridge, Dundalk, Co, Louth, is 93kms from the Dail and not 88.5kms - as a result he gets €1,350 extra.

Deputy Breathnach said: “The distance submitted in my first year was an approximate. I was informed by the Oireachtas of the correct distance which put me into the next bracket. I put in a rough one last year, and they advised me with two maps. ”