TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen last night set in train a process to exclude Senator Ivor Callely from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party over his travel allowance claims.
Government Chief Whip John Curran said that, at the request of the Taoiseach, he will be bringing a motion to a specially convened Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting next week seeking the removal of the whip from Mr Callely.
Mr Callely, a former TD for Dublin North Central, claimed more than €81,000 in travel and overnight expenses over 2½ years.
Despite Clontarf being listed on the Oireachtas website as his principal address, he told Oireachtas officials in 2007 that the family holiday home in Kilcrohane, west Cork, about 370km from Dublin was his principal residence.
Fianna Fáil TDs and Senators were not due to meet next week. However, because of the need to give notice of the motion, it is likely that the special parliamentary party meeting will be held late next week.
The development happened some hours after the Committee for Members Interest in Seanad Éireann decided to immediately start an investigation into the expenses and allowance claims made by Mr Callely from August 2007.
The seven-member committee, chaired by Cathaoirleach of the Seanad Pat Moylan, met shortly after midday yesterday, and examined two complaints received from the public about Mr Callely.
A statement issued after the meeting also confirmed that the committee had received a detailed written statement from Mr Callely.
On Wednesday night, the Taoiseach had reiterated his demand to Mr Callely that he furnish a full and detailed statement to Mr Moylan.
Mr Callely’s statement runs to more than 10 pages, it is understood, and the thrust of its argument is that the Dublin Senator had used different domiciles because of changed personal circumstances since 2007.
“The committee has deemed that sufficient evidence exists to sustain a complaint under the Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001,” it said
Because the Seanad is not sitting next week, the investigation will now begin on June 14th.
According to several senior politicians there was a determination at the highest level to reach a speedy and conclusive determination.
However, it was acknowledged by politicians from all parties that it would take four to five weeks at least before the process could be concluded.
Under the legislation, the committee could impose a sanction of up to 30 days’ suspension for a member. It was also pointed out that a strong finding of inappropriate behaviour would also carry a lot of weight.
According to a senior source, the Taoiseach was anxious that the Government and Fianna Fáil deal with this issue as quickly as possible.
It was felt it would not be helpful to wait until the more formal hearing in the Seanad reached its conclusion.