Councillors in Carlow have reacted angrily to a claim by a newly elected colleague that a payment-for-favours culture exists in the county.
Ms Mary White, the first Green Party member of Carlow County Council, said about half the people for whom she had made representations since being elected had offered her money in return.
"What saddens me is that most people I help are decent people who offer me money and expect me to take it because this is the done thing," she said. "I have no evidence of councillors taking money but there is clearly a perception among the public that this is the norm. I don't think I'm an isolated case."
The amounts of money offered varied from £10 to £80, she said. Other councillors, however, accused her of courting "cheap publicity" and said she should produce evidence to support her claims.
The council chairman, Mr Michael Deering (FG), said he had "no hesitation in saying Carlow County Council is as clean a county council as there is in Ireland". Ms White's comments were "a terrible slur on the county and all the public representatives who have given long years of honest service and personal endeavour at major financial loss to themselves".
Mr Deering said he had been offered a payment just once in his 32 years as a councillor. Someone had left an envelope containing a "small payment" into his home, and he had returned the money to the donor.
Fianna Fail councillor Mr Jimmy Murnane said the Green Party was trying to expose something which was not there. "I'm 15 years on the council. I know all the councillors and not one of them is getting a shilling. They're as straight as you like. If she names a person, fair play, but to bring the whole county council's name down is a disgrace."
Another newly elected councillor, Mr William Paton (Lab), said he had not come across "anything like" what Ms White had described. "The only exception was an elderly lady who offered to pay for the stamp when I sent a letter on her behalf," he said.
"I've made representations on behalf of about 50 clients and apart from the postage stamp, nobody has said `how much do I owe you?' or anything like that. Nobody has offered me any inducements and I'd be horrified if they did. Making representations is what I was elected to do."
Ms White said she had made about 200 representations for people since being elected, and money had been offered in about 50 per cent of cases.
Other councillors questioned whether it was possible to make so many representations in such a short space of time, but Ms White - a full-time public representative and her party's national spokeswoman on the environment - said she was including non-county council work such as helping people with medical card applications.
"It is absolute rubbish to say that I'm courting cheap publicity. I'm not making it up; I'm doing it because I want to operate in a clean society," she said.
