Every year TDs and senators must declare their personal assets in the Dail register of members' interests. The idea is to expose potential conflicts of interests in the personal investments made by our public representatives. But the register can also be used for a sneak peek at how other people manage their money.

People will usually expose their finances to public scrutiny only when they are in trouble, letting the TV cameras into their lives in the hope that Eddie Hobbs can work some magic and make them solvent again.

The Dail register lifts the veil on something entirely different, showing us how and where a group of high earners invest their surplus cash.

Even the lowliest of backbenchers earns 88,556 a year, supplemented by very generous expenses. By investing their money wisely, they have an unbeatable opportunity to secure their financial futures.

Stocks and shares Study after study shows that the stock market is the best long-term home for your money. But only a handful of politicians appear to play the markets, with the rest holding ragbag collections of shares that they probably got for free when former building societies and farmers' cooperatives floated on the stock market.

Dun Laoghaire TD Ciaran Cuffe has the most impressive share portfolio, comprising American blue-chips such as Microsoft, Dell and Home Depot that he inherited from his mother.

The portfolio has been overhauled in recent years, weeding out the oil and defence stocks that caused the Green Party TD considerable embarrassment, earning him the nickname 'Chemical Cuffe'. The current line up might sit more easily with Cuffe's ethical credentials but, from an investment perspective, it leaves him dangerously exposed to the dollar.

Fine Gael's Richard Bruton keeps his money closer to home, investing in all the Irish banks as well as building materials groups CRH and Kingspan, energy company Viridian and food group IAWS.

Fianna Fail's Michael Mulcahy has a similar spread of Irish blue-chips, no doubt influenced by the stock tips dished out in Phoenix magazine, which is published by his father.

Cork's canny TDs have hedged their bets by balancing their Irish share portfolios with investments on the London Stock Exchange.

Fine Gael's Jim O'Keeffe has stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland, owner of Ulster Bank and First Active, Standard Chartered Bank, and drug company Glaxo Smith Kline. Fianna Fail's Ned O'Keeffe has his British investments in Woolsey, which bought Brooks builders' providers in 2004, Marks & Spencer and drinks group Allied Domecq, maker of Harveys Bristol Cream sherry and Malibu rum.

The stock market has not been kind for all politicians:

the Vodafone shares owned by Frank Fahey, Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher, Tony Gregory, MJ Nolan and Willie Penrose are probably a legacy from an ill-judged investment in Eircom when the former state monopoly was privatised with great fanfare in 1999.

Nevertheless, some TDs seem to have an insatiable appetite for risk. Defence minister Willie O'Dea has only exploration stocks in his portfolio, including African Diamonds, Ormonde Mining, Ovoca Petroleum and silver mining company Minco. Disclosure is required only when a politician has invested more than 13,000 in an individual stock, so the straight-talking Limerick man clearly has a big exposure to a notoriously volatile sector.

Wexford's Tony Dempsey has put his trust in Tony O'Reilly by investing in both of the billionaire businessman's exploration companies, Providence and Arcon.

Meanwhile, Labour's Willie Penrose holds almost 97,000 shares in Bula Resources, an investment he admits is now worthless.

Investment Funds Funds are sold as the best way of getting into the stock market because, by pooling your money with other investors, you can spread the investment risk over a much wider range of companies.

But relatively few TDs appear to have followed this advice.

When they do, they pick the usual range of off-theshelf tracker and unit-linked bonds sold by the big banks and insurance brokers, which are often criticised for high charges and lacklustre performance.

But Cork's John Dennehy is unlikely to have too many complaints, as his investment with Standard Life could land him a windfall when the Scottish insurance company floats on the London Stock Exchange in the summer.

The Green Party's Ciaran Cuffe is more hands-on, picking funds managed by Dolmen Stockbrokers and Friends First that invest along strictly ethical principles.

Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher also knows what he wants when investing in funds. The junior transport minister is a fan of the Business Expansion Scheme and section 481 incentives, which give generous tax breaks to encourage investment in small businesses and film-making.

Also chasing tax breaks are Fianna Fail's Jimmy Devins and John McGuinness, who have invested in nursing homes in Sligo and Offaly.

Property Property unites everybody across the political divide as the top investment choice.

Many TDs have jumped on the buy-to-let bandwagon, snapping up apartments and townhouses in Dublin and around the country to cash in on the property boom while the tenants pay the mortgage.

Junior justice minister Frank Fahey leads the way, listing more than 20 different property investments in the Dail register. They include buy-to-let properties in his native Galway as well as Leixlip, Athlone, Limerick and Dublin. Fahey has also invested in commercial and housing developments that are still under construction.

Other TDs with sizeable buy-to-let and commercial property interests include Sean Ardagh, Donie Cassidy, John McGuinness and GV Wright.

Soaring prices at home have driven many buy-to-let investors to try their luck in less frothy markets. Finance minister Brian Cowen has bought in Leeds while party colleague Tom Kitt has opted for Leicester. Labour TDs are also looking to Britain, with Breeda Moynihan-Cronin from Kerry picking up apartments in Birmingham and Liverpool and Willie Penrose buying in Kent, Croydon and Wigan.

Fianna Fail's Sean Ardagh and John Curran have joined the army of Irish investors buying apartments in Budapest, while Gerard Murphy of Fine Gael has invested in a studio in Poland. The wisdom of these investments has yet to be seen, with Ardagh and Murphy reporting that they have yet to earn a rent from their properties in eastern Europe.

Undeterred, Murphy has turned his attention to the US. where he has bought a half-share in a property in Florida. But his two-bedroom apartment is small beer compared to Frank Fahey's interest in two houses in Boston, on top of deposits paid on several properties under construction in Portugal.

Rather than trusting their instincts, some of our politicians have turned to the experts when buying abroad.

The Belfry Funds, managed by tech millionaire Tony Kilduff and sold by AIB, has attracted a lot of Irish investors into British commercial property, among them Richard Bruton and transport minister Martin Cullen.

Holiday homes Investment experts warn that holiday homes should be regarded as an indulgence rather than an investment.

But many of our politicians will be hoping that their rural boltholes will also turn a healthy profit.

Cavan is a popular destination . . . probably because of the tax incentives for buying property in the border county . . . with Dublin deputies Martin Brady and John Curran buying second homes in Virginia and Ballyconnell.

Wexford is another popular destination, with local TD John Browne borrowing 150,000 from EBS to buy a house in Kilmucridge, while Sean Haughey seems content to pass away the long summer recess in a mobile home.

Despite the popularity of a home in the sun, few of our politicians have purchased holiday property abroad.

Tony Dempsey has a place in Cyprus, while Frank Fahey, Noel Grealish and Billy Timmins have bought in France.