The row over MPs' expenses has extended to Sinn Fein with the disclosure that the party's five MPs have claimed more than £400,000 on a pair of London flats.
It was reported that in the last financial year the five claimed a total of £105,000 even though they do not take their seats at Westminster and are rarely seen in London.
Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Pat Doherty, Michelle Gildernew, and Conor Murphy each claimed £21,000 in Additional Cost Allowances.
The Daily Mail said that since the figures were first published in 2001/02, the Sinn Fein MPs had received a total of £437,405 in the taxpayer funded allowance.
A party spokesman defended the claims. He said that the two rented properties were used by the MPs on a shared basis when they were in London.
"Sinn Fein MPs do not receive a salary from Westminster, nor do they employ any family members. Sinn Fein makes no apology for refusing to sit in the British House of Commons," the spokesman said.
"We also make no apology for ensuring that people who vote for Sinn Fein get the same democratic entitlements as everyone else."
However the payments were strongly condemned by senior Tories.
Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson told The Daily Mail: "It is completely unacceptable for Sinn Fein representatives, who won't even sit in Parliament, to claim hundreds of thousands at the taxpayers' expense.
"That is why the Conservatives have consistently opposed members who refuse to take their seats receiving the accommodation allowance."
