FINE GAEL and Labour last night signalled that they will demand action on the issue of Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue’s high foreign travel expenses, following two months of muted response to the continuing controversy.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said last month that he would ask the three Fine Gael members of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission to raise the issue of staffing levels at Mr O’Donoghue’s office, which are much higher than those of his predecessor, Rory O’Hanlon. Mr O’Donoghue is the chair of the commission, which has responsibility for running the Oireachtas.
However, the party said last night that on Tuesday Mr Kenny now intends to meet TDs Tom Hayes and Dan Neville and Senator Paul Bradford and instruct them to make three specific requests of the Ceann Comhairle – to reduce his staffing levels; to remove his special adviser Dan Collins; and to repay any spending not directly related to official duties.
Mr Kenny said that if the three issues were not addressed, the Ceann Comhairle should consider his position.
The move came as Labour leader Eamon Gilmore released a statement calling for a meeting of all party leaders to discuss what he described as Mr O’Donoghue’s extravagant expenses while on foreign trips.
The latest figures show he has incurred about €90,000 in expenses on foreign travel since becoming Ceann Comhairle in June 2007. Two of the official trips coincided with the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe race meeting in Paris. Mr O’Donoghue’s wife Kate Ann accompanied him on many of the trips.
Mr Gilmore’s statement is the first direct intervention by a party leader in the controversy, and will be viewed as increasing the pressure on Mr O’Donoghue over perceptions of lavish spending while abroad.
He added that the disclosures over recent months would “appear to suggest a pattern of extravagance which is unacceptable to the taxpayers who are paying the bill”.