LABOUR PARTY chairman Colm Keaveney TD has said his wife, Deirdre, is “temporarily filling in” as his parliamentary assistant and that the post will be advertised in the near future.
Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn pointed out yesterday that the party had advised all its deputies to avoid employing family members.
In a statement, Mr Keaveney said: “The position will be advertised in due course but starting someone new at the beginning of a very busy Dáil session was not judged by me to be prudent.
“Deirdre is temporarily filling in on a full-time basis and has been doing so since the 1st September just gone by.
“It has always been my intention to hire another person into the role and the vacancy will be filled as soon as possible,” he said.
A report that Deirdre Keaveney had been appointed to the post without competition at a salary of €52,000 and that Ballinasloe-based Cllr Johnny Walsh was let go from the job this month appeared in yesterday’s Daily Mail.
The TD said the salary was overstated “by a wide margin” and he added in his statement: “My previous parliamentary assistant, Cllr Johnny Walsh, finished up, by mutual consent, at the end of August. Deirdre had been job-sharing the post with Cllr Walsh.
“This arrangement changed as a consequence of the recent constituency boundary review which took Ballinasloe out of my constituency. Cllr Walsh and myself remain on excellent terms,” he said.
When asked about the post, Mr Quinn said during a visit to Midleton, Co Cork: “We haven’t lost the run of ourselves – the Labour Party advised newly elected deputies and current deputies who were re-elected to avoid employing family members.”
Asked if Ms Keaveney should stand down from the position, Mr Quinn replied: “That’s a matter for Colm Keaveney and the party leadership.”
