{"id":276977,"date":"2026-02-02T15:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T15:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/276977\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T15:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T15:10:07","slug":"inflation-hits-leinster-house-as-tds-face-price-hikes-at-dail-bar-and-restaurant-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/276977\/","title":{"rendered":"Inflation hits Leinster House as TDs face price hikes at D\u00e1il bar and restaurant \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

TDs and Senators have been hit with a price hike<\/a> on the cost of food in the D\u00e1il<\/a> bar and restaurant but avoided any increase in the price of wine.<\/p>\n

The new menu prices were introduced in November, but dining bills remain comfortably lower than anything politicians could expect to pay on the nearby streets of Dublin 2.<\/p>\n

In the Members\u2019 Restaurant, soup at lunch is priced at \u20ac5.50, up from \u20ac5 previously.<\/p>\n

On the afternoon menu, deep-fried calamari with lemon and garlic aioli did cost \u20ac8 but has been raised to \u20ac9.50.<\/p>\n

A prime beef burger was \u20ac12 on the old menu; however, now TDs and Senators must fork out \u20ac13.80.<\/p>\n

All desserts were repriced at \u20ac5.80, an increase of \u20ac0.80 on the \u20ac5 that was being charged to Oireachtas members.<\/p>\n

The current menu includes a mixed berry crumble, strawberry cheesecake, a selection of ice-cream, or a fruit salad for the health conscious.<\/p>\n

Altogether, a soup, main and a treat afterwards in the restaurant comes in at just over \u20ac25, about \u20ac3 above last year\u2019s prices.<\/p>\n

Many nearby cafes and casual restaurants charge \u20ac15 to \u20ac18 for just a main course, and an equivalent three-course meal would be unlikely to cost less than \u20ac30.<\/p>\n

Meals and drinks at the D\u00e1il venues are not directly subsidised, an Oireachtas spokesman said previously, but prices reflect the fact that utility bills and other overheads driving up prices for other restaurants are covered centrally in the parliamentary complex.<\/p>\n

In the evening, parliamentarians can still enjoy a chargrilled sirloin or rib-eye steak \u2013 with fries \u2013 for just \u20ac20.50.<\/p>\n

However, that price jumped \u20ac2.50 during the price increases late last year.<\/p>\n

Grilled lamb cutlets were available for just \u20ac16 on the old menu but have been replaced with a pan-roasted lamb rump that costs \u20ac18.50.<\/p>\n

Thankfully for those who enjoy a tipple with their meal, the price of wine remained unchanged.<\/p>\n

The cost of a glass of the Oireachtas merlot or sauvignon blanc remains at \u20ac6.60, according to records released under Freedom of Information.<\/p>\n

The old price of \u20ac25 for a full bottle was also retained.<\/p>\n

It was a similar story of price hikes in the Members\u2019 Bar, where more informal dining options are available for TDs and Senators.<\/p>\n

The price of lunchtime soup rose from \u20ac2.70 to \u20ac3, while the bill for a plate of smoked salmon jumped from \u20ac10 to \u20ac11.50.<\/p>\n

The typical cost of a main dish went from \u20ac12 to \u20ac13.80, though cheaper options and other light bites were available.<\/p>\n

\u201cSweet treats\u201d remained keenly priced at \u20ac5.20 compared with \u20ac4.50 before the increases were introduced.<\/p>\n

In the evening, those looking to enjoy a gourmet beef burger in the Members\u2019 Bar faced one of the steepest rises.<\/p>\n

The price of that meal leapt from \u20ac12 to \u20ac15 while a house chicken Caesar salad rose from \u20ac9 to \u20ac11.50.<\/p>\n

Asked about the changes, a spokeswoman said: \u201cThe price increases came into effect in November 2025 on foot of a decision of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TDs and Senators have been hit with a price hike on the cost of food in the D\u00e1il…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,943,15049,61,60],"class_list":["post-276977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-cost-of-living","tag-dail-eireann","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}