A former minister has said he's 'not sure what the fuss is about' with the Dáil bars.
Figures show more than €360,000 worth of alcohol was consumed last year with over 10,000 pints of Guinness poured.
A pint of the black stuff at Leinster House will set you back a bit less than in other pubs, costing just €5.20.
Former Minister Shane Ross told Lunchtime Live he was always in the bar himself.
"I must have been the best customer in the Dáil bar for many, many years," he said.
"I was there for 39 years and during that 39 years, certainly 34 of them, I never had a drink.
"The Dáil bar has got two components: one is for visitors which is where nearly all the turnover you're talking about is.
"The other thing is the Members bar, which is the separate part of that where very little of that turnover takes place, I used to go in there very nearly every day but for lunch.
"I'd just have a sandwich or something like that or a cup of tea."
'All this hubbub'Mr Ross said the bar should be kept more so for people visiting the Oireachtas.
"Now we get all this hubbub about should have a Dáil bar or should we not: I really think for the visitors it's a necessary part of a day out," he said.
"For the members.... I must say in recent years when I've been there, and I spent a lot of time there at lunchtime, I never actually saw anybody having a drink at lunchtime.
"I don't remember ever seeing anyone drunk. So I'm not sure quite what the fuss is about."
Deputy Ross said he believes visitors are entitled to a drink and members are entitled to a lunch.
"If they have a couple of pints in the evening as well, are we really going to complain about that? I don't get it," he said.
'Members aren't benefiting'On the €5.20 price tag, Mr Ross said he accepts there is annoyance at this element.
"It should be maybe at the same level of anywhere else which is a commercial organisation.
"But members aren't really benefiting from it because members aren't drinking an awful lot.
"It's a fair point that people shouldn't look at it with envy," he added.
Mr Ross said he doesn't know how the prices are set in the Dáil bar.
'I've never taken a drink'Independent TD in Cork Michael Collins told the show he has never taken a drink.
"The way I always felt before I got into politics, and I do take a drink myself, but I've never taken an alcoholic drink in the Dáil bar since I went was elected in 2016," he said.
"The way I felt was that so many people in this country get up at 6, 7 or 8 in the morning, they work hard all day and they go home.
"They don't have a bar to walk into, to socialise or to whatever during the day.
"It's my place of work and that's the way I respect it.
"There's plenty of other places in Dublin or in the surrounds that you can have a drink".
'Doubts in my mind'Deputy Collins said a "huge percentage" of the €360,000 figure is down to visitors to the Dáil bar.
"There's no doubt we do need some kind of food outlet there but alcohol I've often questioned it," he said.
"I still standover the doubts I have in my own mind".
Deputy Collins, whose two brothers own pubs, said he 'can sympathise' with people being angered about it.
"The wrong perception can be put out there that the politician is drinking all that drink.
"He's not but there is that perception," he added.
He added that staff from the bar could easily be moved over to the catering side.
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Main image: A pint of Guinness in a traditional Irish pub. Image: Stephen Barnes/Food and Drink / Alamy
