Tipperary councillors claimed €1.8m in expenses and allowances in 2025
Tipperary’s county councillors claimed almost €1.83million in expenses in 2025, an increase of €86,658 on the previous year.
Each year, the county council publishes the total amount claimed by all the elected representatives across the county, outlining their expenses throughout the calendar year.
In total, the 40 councillors covering the five Tipperary districts claimed €1,828,735.43 in expenses throughout 2025.
The highest paid councillor last year was Fianna Fáil councillor John Carroll who took home a total of €60,644.22 for the year.
Cllr Carroll served as Cathaoirleach of Tipperary County Council for the year, taking home €30,932 in his annual salary.
Cllr Carroll was paid a further €6,923.10 in a Cathaoirleach’s allowance, as well as €6,958 in annual allowances, and €1,577.23 in a local representative allowance (LRA).
The LRA is a vouched allowance for expenses incurred while carrying out the duty of being a local representative.
The second highest earner for 2025 was Fine Gael’s Declan Burgess, who took home €60,580.61.
Cllr Burgess also took home almost €31,000 in his annual salary, as well as €13,846.20 in Cathaoirleach’s allowance in the first two quarters of 2025 before Cllr Carroll was elected chair in June.
The Fine Gael councillor took home €5,834 in annual expenses, as well as €3,248 in LRA expenses.
Cllr Burgess was 2024’s highest earning councillor taking home €59,114.09 that year.
The third highest paid councillor was Mary Hanna Hourigan, who took home a total of €55,201.47.
As well as her base salary of €30,932, Cllr Hourigan was paid an LRA of €6,253, and €6,549 in annual expenses.
She was also paid €6000 in an allowance for being chair of a council’s strategic policy committee (SPC).
Fianna Fáil councillor in Thurles Sean Ryan was the fourth highest earner in Tipperary in 2025, taking home a total of €54,226.22, while Fine Gael councillor in Clonmel John Fitzgerald rounded out the top five highest earners in the county, taking home €51,971.83.
Cllr Ryan was also the chair of one of the council’s SPCs during 2025, netting him an extra €6,000.
The Thurles-based councillor also claimed a security allowance of €2,750 in the third quarter of the year, one of only two Tipperary councillors to claim this.
Fine Gael’s John Fitzgerald also claimed a security allowace of €2,777.75 in the final quarter of 2025.
Local representatives are entitled to a security allowance for measures to enhance their personal safety, including things like CCTV at their homes, intruder alarms, and panic buttons. Councillors can claim a maximum of €2,500 or 50pc of the cost of the work carried out, whichever is less.
At the lower end of the table, the lowest paid councillor in 2025 was Fianna Fáil councillor for Carrick-on-Suir, Amy Goldsboro. She took home a total sum of €34,388.39 last year.
Independent councillor Micheál Lowry took home €37,743.48 last year, coming in as the second lowest paid councillor, while Cllrs Pamela Quirke O’Meara, Louise Morgan Walsh, and Joe Hannigan are the five lowest paid public representatives, earning €38,635, €39,019 and €39,205 respectively.