O'Donoghue says he is sorry about travel costs

CEANN COMHAIRLE John O’Donoghue has said he is “sorry” about the costs of his foreign travel arrangements in his previous role as a government minister and described the costs as “considerable”.

Mr O’Donoghue said he was not aware of the costs of the arrangements and now felt “embarrassed” by them. His statement yesterday followed an explanatory letter to TDs, released to the media on Monday, and comments made at the Listowel races on Tuesday.

“When I expressed sincere regret in my letter of explanation to members I meant it and I can assure members that I have no difficulty in expressing my regret and saying I am sorry,” he said.

“I was not aware of the cost of these arrangements and when I read the detail in the past weeks I was embarrassed that such costs were associated with some of the arrangements made on my behalf.” He said the records of all travel and accommodation costs incurred and paid since he was elected Ceann Comhairle would be placed in the Dáil library “as soon as practicable”.

The tone of Mr O’Donoghue’s statement was different from that of his letter to TDs, in which he did not use the words “sorry” or “apologise”. However, he re-iterated the points contained in his letter to TDs that the costs were legitimate and in accordance with Department of Finance guidelines.

He regretted he did not pay more attention to the cost of the arrangements provided for him, but said he was fully focused on his duties as an office holder at the time, “and would not be concerned with this level of detail”.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said Mr O’Donoghue had made a full apology “and I accept his apology”. He added: “What happened during his time as arts, sport and tourism minister was endemic of a culture in Fianna Fáil for a long number of years applying to other ministers.”

While speaking outside Leinster House, Mr Kenny was asked about his own expenses as minister for trade and tourism in the 1990s. “I think I was prudent in my responsibilities and they’re there for the record I’m quite sure. They’re probably being thrashed through by Fianna Fáil at the moment, as they will be for every other minister in the rainbow government,” he said.

Fine Gael TD Leo Varadkar, who had said he did not think it appropriate for Mr O’Donoghue to continue as chairman of the Houses of the Oireachtas, said: “Now that he’s accepted that what he did was wrong I have confidence in him continuing as chairman.”

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore acknowledged Mr O’Donoghue’s statement while speaking inside the Chamber. “Let me say Ceann Comhairle that I acknowledge the letter of apology that you have issued today, but it does suggest that it was by no means the exception and that this appears to be the norm,” he said.

A Labour spokesman said Mr O’Donoghue’s statement represented a very significant advance from the position he was adopting as recently as Monday.

Sinn Féin deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh raised the issue in the Dáil, asking for amendments to the Standards in Public Office legislation to allow the Dáil to question Ministers or former ministers on expenditure, “whether they are Ceann Comhairle or not”.

Mr Ó Snodaigh later told The Irish Times he accepted Mr O’Donoghue’s apology but wanted more detail about who authorised the spending.

A Green Party spokesman said he had no comment on the issue, but added that the issue of expenses for TDs and Senators would be looked at in negotiations ahead of the review of the programme for government.

Responding to Mr Ó Snodaigh, the Taoiseach said all expenses were audited by accounting officers in respective departments.

“There have been changes brought forward to both internal and foreign travel in recent times and quite properly so in the new situation in which we find ourselves,” he said.