Fine Gael TD Maria Bailey has resigned from an Oireachtas committee dealing with ethics following the fallout from her personal injury claim against a hotel after falling from a swing.
Ms Bailey, a Dún Laoghaire TD, was stripped of her position as chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, a post that is worth €9,500 a year, by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last month.
Mr Varadkar took the action following an internal party report into Ms Bailey’s claim against the Dean Hotel on Dublin’s Harcourt Street for falling off a swing. The report found Ms Bailey’s affidavit “overstated the impact of her injuries”.
Ms Bailey, in a letter to Oireachtas committee secretariat Charles Hearne dated August 16th, said she would resign as chair of the Select Committee on Members’ Interests, which prepares guidelines for members on how to comply with ethics acts.
Ms Bailey will also leave her role as chair of the Working Group of Committee Chairs now that she no longer holds a position as chair of a committee.
“As you are aware the Taoiseach made a decision to demote me and remove me as chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government,” she said.
“I now feel that in the interests of the smooth running of the Select Committee on Members Interests (Dáil Éireann) it would be best for me to resign as chair of the committee.
“Therefore, as I will no longer be a committee chairperson I would like to formally resign as chair of Working Group of Committee Chairs.”
