Beleaguered Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue today declared that he did not enter public life for personal gain as he again expressed regret over the high level of expenses which he incurred as Minister for Arts Sports and Tourism.
Mr O’Donoghue re-iterated his view that he was precluded from commenting on the controversy about the expenses because of his current position as Ceann Comhairle but he pointed out that he had expressed his regret to members of Dáil Éireann.
“I have outlined what the position is in relation to the constitutional situation, I have outlined to the TDs in the Dáil who are representatives of the people to whom I am accountable and I explained in so far as the costs were high, I sincerely regretted that.”
Mr O’Donoghue said that there was a precedent stretching back many years that the Ceann Comhairle must remain above any political controversy and he said that he was simply abiding by the precedent.
“It has been ruled in the Houses of the Oireachtas that he is the neutral chairman of the house and that he must stay above public controversy and must stay out of political controversy and that has been the position and is the position.”
Speaking to reporters during a visit to Listowel Races in North Kerry, Mr O’Donoghue stressed that his expenditure as a minister were in line with Department of Finance guidelines and he insisted that he did not benefit personally.
“ I have stated categorically to the members of the Dáil, the representatives of the people to whom I am accountable that I sincerely regret the costs that were incurred in so far as they were high and paid on my account.
“I have also outlined that the costs concerned were audited independently and the payments themselves were in accordance with Department of Finance guidelines and were legitimate.
“I explained to the members of the house, my peers that yes, it is my view in so far as the costs were high, I regret this but I have also explained that these were costs paid to service providers on my behalf, these were not costs which were paid to me.
“I profited nothing out of it – I did not go into public life to make a profit – I have explained all of that and let me assure that I behaved in good faith and with probity throughout and that is what I have said to my colleagues.”
Pressed as to whether he would formally apologise for running up such expenses, Mr O’Donoghue stopped short of an overt apology but appeared to suggest that his expression of regret could be taken as an apology.
“I have written to my colleagues and I have stated categorically with the benefit of hindsight that some of the costs are high and that I sincerely regret that - in so far as one regrets something, I think that is an apology,” he said.
Mr O’Donoghue refused to comment on a call by Tipperary South Fianna Fáil TD, Mattie McGrath that he should step down from his position chairing a committee on Oireachtas reform. “I have no response to that - I’m not going to enter into that.”
“I am not in any way trying to avoid your question, and I am trying to maintain the dignity of the office and at the same time explain precisely what happened as I did to the members of the house.
Mr O’Donoghue said that he would “let the general public” decide as to whether he has been singled out for unfair attention over expenses while he also said that he had “no idea how long” the current controversy would last.