Laois candidates spent nearly €100k getting elected last year

The total spend by Laois candidates in last year's General Election was almost €100,000, figures released by the Standards in Public Office (SIPO) Commission revealed last week.

The six candidates in the newly created Laois consitituency racked up the bill of non-public expenditure across a range of electioneering avenues, including advertising, publicity, posters, transport and travel, and office and stationary.

Fine Gael's Charles Flanagan emerged as the biggest spender with a total outlay of €17,976.69.

Fianna Fáil's Sean Fleming topped the poll last year and was the sole candidate for his party. His expenditure was €17,331.88.

Brian Stanley, who was elected for Sinn Féin, spent €9,684.

Labour's John Whelan spent €13,937.34, while Fine Gael's Thomasina Connell submitted a statutory spending limit of €25,150 to her party, of which the national agent spent €14,915.

The Green Party's Sinéad Moore spent €2,128.29.

Ms Moore last week found herself one of 66 candidates referred to the Gardaí for failing to submit the required documentation to SIPO.