The former Fianna Fail TD, Mr Denis Foley, has declined to discuss why he paid more than £10,000 he was given for assistance in the DIRT tax inquiry last year to his daughter for working in his constituency.
Mr Foley paid the £10,032 to his daughter, Ms Margaret Tarrant, for doing his constituency work while he was on the six-member sub-committee that investigated the DIRT tax scandal.
The other five sub-committee members spent all or most of their money on expert legal or financial advice, although some also gave a proportion to individuals looking after their constituencies.
Only Mr Foley, who is suspended from the Dail for a breach of the Ethics in Public Office Act and has been suspended from the Fianna Fail parliamentary party, spent all the allocation on the constituency work carried out by his daughter. Mr Foley was suspended from the Dail for voting on a motion relating to the Moriarty tribunal while at the same time holding an Ansbacher account.
Mr Foley declined to comment yesterday following a report in yesterday's Sunday Independent, saying only: "You'll be hearing more about this matter". However, other sources confirmed that the figures published in relation to Mr Foley and the other members were correct.
The six members of the subcommittee were allocated £3,000 per month each by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy. This was intended both to pay for expert assistance to help them deal with the complex issues involved and to pay for constituency work while the deputies were taken up with the intensive, time-consuming hearings. The money could be allocated entirely at the deputies' discretion.
The sub-committee chairman, Mr Jim Mitchell gave £13,400 to Mr P.J. O'Mara, a lawyer, who took leave of absence from a post with Fine Gael; Mr Sean Ardagh paid £8,000 to auditor Ms Muireann Kelliher and £3,375 to Mr Ken Powell to do constituency work; Mr Sean Doherty gave £10,400 to auditor Mr Philip Byrne; Mr Pat Rabbitte gave £15,040 to economist Mr Fergus O'Raghallaigh, his former special adviser, and £3,360 to his former programme manager, Mr Noel Ward, for constituency work; and Mr Bernard Durkan gave £8,400 to a barrister, Mr Leonard Parker.