One MLA spent £300 on a computer keyboard, while others claimed for everything from a £500 coffee machine, an Alexa speaker, to drinking water.
AI subscriptions, social media blue ticks, coffee machines and cameras are among the more unusual items claimed by Stormont MLAs on expenses over the past year.
An analysis of the latest Assembly expenses returns by Belfast Live shows that politicians are increasingly using public money to pay for AI tools such as ChatGPT, as well as software designed to create social media videos and subscriptions to verify their online accounts.
The records, covering April 2025 to March 2026, also include claims for coffee machines, vlogging equipment, water coolers, smart speakers and hundreds of pounds worth of camera equipment.
Perhaps the biggest trend to emerge is the growing use of ChatGPT.
SDLP MLA Cara Hunter claimed £19.99 for ChatGPT on eleven separate occasions throughout the year.
Independent MLA Claire Sugden also regularly claimed £19.99 each month for ChatGPT Plus, while Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong submitted recurring claims of £20 for the premium AI service.
The SDLP’s Sinéad McLaughlin also claimed monthly ChatGPT subscriptions, with payments ranging between £17.85 and £18.84, while party colleague Daniel McCrossan opted to expense a single £189.90 payment covering ChatGPT Plus between May 2025 and February 2026.
The latest returns also show MLAs using public money to bolster their social media presence.
Cara Hunter claimed £11 each month for an X subscription, as well as £11.99 a month for Meta Verification, giving her verified accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
DUP MLA Peter Martin also expensed an annual X subscription costing £114.99.
Creating online content is another area where spending appears to have increased.
Cara Hunter claimed a monthly CapCut subscription, while Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw claimed £139.99 for the video editing software. Similar claims were also made by Sinn Féin’s Colm Gildernew and SDLP MLA Sinéad McLaughlin.
Meanwhile, several MLAs also purchased dedicated camera equipment.
DUP MLAs David Brooks and Cheryl Brownlee each claimed £329 for cameras bought from Currys during April this year.
Jonathan Buckley claimed £319.99 for a camera from Argos, while Alliance MLA David Honeyford expensed £498 for a camera and microphone package.
DUP deputy leader Michelle McIlveen also claimed £419 for a DJI camera.
Elsewhere in the returns, Daniel McCrossan claimed £549.99 for a coffee machine from Argos. His SDLP colleague Sinéad McLaughlin also claimed £45 for what was listed as an Argos coffee machine.
Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly spent £378 on a water cooler and a further £65.99 on bottled water and disposable cups.
Linda Dillon also submitted claims totalling £198.43 for water cooler rental, drinking water and disposable cups.
There were also claims for equipment aimed at improving online content.
UUP deputy leader Diana Armstrong expensed a £92 Hasselblad microphone and a £219.95 Apple SnapCreator Kit, while her party colleague Steve Aiken claimed £79.19 for a vlogging kit.
SDLP Leader of the Opposition, Matthew O’Toole, claimed £44.50 for fountain pens purchased from Amazon.
Meanwhile, DUP MLA Cheryl Brownlee recorded the largest catering claim in the period, expensing a single transaction of £300 for refreshments from a catering company.
The returns also show a range of technology purchases.
Alliance MLA David Honeyford claimed £299.25 for an Apple keyboard, Kellie Armstrong claimed £49 for an official Apple iPhone case, while DUP MLA Deborah Erskine expensed an Amazon Echo Dot smart speaker costing £54.99.
In addition, new mobile phones featured prominently.
Kellie Armstrong claimed £874 for an iPhone 16; Andrew Muir expensed £699 for an iPhone 16e; Orlaithi Flynn claimed £649 for an iPhone from Currys; and William Irwin purchased an iPhone 16e for £549.
Other MLAs opted for refurbished devices, with Claire Sugden claiming £463 for a refurbished iPhone 14 Pro Max from Back Market and Diana Armstrong claiming £425 for a handset from CEX.
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