His spokesperson said that Mr Grealish had an "informal pairing" arrangement with Fine Gael. The spokesperson did not give any examples when asked, however.

Micheál Martin missed all the votes on 62 days between March 2016 and July 2019. Mr Martin, a TD for Cork South Central, received TAA payments of just over €89,000 from March 2016 to the end of last year.

A spokesman for Mr Martin said that as leader of the Opposition he has a very wide range of "responsibilities that mean he is not able to attend voting blocks. His absence from these blocks is facilitated by a pairing arrangement".

The spokesman also said that on at least a third of the dates referred to, Mr Martin had participated in debates.

The spokesman added: "The fobbing requirement has no connection with voting responsibilities and the attempt by some to link them is based solely on an effort to undermine confidence in our political system."

Mr Martin's party colleague, Limerick City TD Willie O'Dea missed 57 days worth of votes when he was signed in. Mr O'Dea told RTÉ Investigates that he usually missed the block of votes on Thursday. He said that he would often travel up and down to Leinster House from Limerick a few times during the week.

Mr O'Dea holds weekly constituency clinics on Thursday evening. He explained that he would also have a "walkabout" at around 6.30pm - 7pm, in advance of those clinics, to deliver leaflets. (He also holds weekly Friday and Saturday clinics.)

When asked why he held clinics on a Thursday - one of three allocated Dáil sitting days - he replied that he had a "long history of doing clinics on a Thursday".