Any invalid expenses to be repaid, says Callely

FIANNA FÁIL Senator Ivor Callely will reimburse expenses claims if he is found to have unintentionally taken money that he should not have taken, he told an Oireachtas investigating committee.

However, Mr Callely insisted he had been “open and honest” about his expenses when he appeared before the Committee on Members’ Interests of Seanad Éireann yesterday.

He was asked to explain his €81,015 travel expenses and why he claimed for the 370km journey between Leinster House and his holiday home in Kilcrohane, west Cork, instead of from his residence in Clontarf, Dublin, over a two-year period.

Mr Callely swore to tell “the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. Committee chairman, Seanad Cathaoirleach Pat Moylan, offered him a copy of the Bible “if necessary”.

“My residence is west Cork. My claims are legitimate,” Mr Callely said. “I don’t believe I have received any monies that are due to be reimbursed, but if they are I’d be happy to do so.”

Mr Callely said his home in west Cork was initially intended as a holiday home, but as a result of personal circumstances, that ceased to be the case.

Losing his Dáil seat in 2007 had a significant impact on himself, his family and his political career and he felt the need to spend time away from his former Dublin North Central constituency.

He had always received a warm welcome in west Cork, and felt it was the right place to deal with the “trauma” he was experiencing.

However, during late 2008 and 2009 he began to spend more time in Clontarf. This was due in part to “evolving” personal circumstances and because he had “answered the Taoiseach’s call . . . to put the shoulder to the wheel” in relation to the second Lisbon Treaty referendum. He then “reflected” on what his normal place of residence was, and made inquiries with the authorities in Leinster House.

He said he did not claim for September, October, November or December 2008. He felt this was a fair way of dealing with an “anomaly” in the expenses regime then in place, “which was inflexible for those who may find themselves in a normal place of residence separate from their family home”.

When the new expenses scheme came into effect, he was disappointed “it still could only reflect one address”. He returned an allowance he received for March 2010 and had not cashed other cheques as he was “determined to resolve this issue”.

Mr Callely, who has resigned the Fianna Fáil whip, said he understood he had not breached regulations. Independent Senator Joe O’Toole, a member of the committee, asked Mr Callely whether he paid the €200 tax on second homes last year and, if so, to which house did it relate. Mr Callely confirmed he paid the tax on his Dublin property.

Mr O’Toole asked Mr Callely where he was registered to vote and Mr Callely said he was registered in Clontarf “as far as I know”. Mr O’Toole said Mr Callely appeared to have given two addresses: one for the purposes of expenses and another for Seanad correspondence.

“We can’t countenance a situation where you are telling us that your home is in west Cork at the same time when you’re telling our office, the office of the Seanad, to correspond with you in Dublin.”

The committee will meet again on Wednesday to hear evidence from a senior Oireachtas official from the members’ services unit.

Other members are Alex White (Labour), Dan Boyle (Green Party), Fine Gael leader in the Seanad Frances Fitzgerald, and Senators Camillus Glynn and Denis O’Donovan (Fianna Fáil).

Mr White said Mr Callely seemed to want an expenses system that facilitated or accommodated him, which no scheme could do. Ms Fitzgerald claimed there appeared to be a “contradiction” in Mr Callely’s evidence about his residences.