Plagiarism admitted on speech by Burton

Fine Gael Dublin North East TD Terence Flanagan has admitted he plagiarised a speech made by Labour deputy leader Joan Burton…

Fine Gael Dublin North East TD Terence Flanagan has admitted he plagiarised a speech made by Labour deputy leader Joan Burton during a Dáil speech this month.

His declaration came 24 hours after he had told the Irish Independent that he had "not nicked" sections of a speech made on the Finance Bill from the Labour deputy leader.

Unavailable for comment, Mr Flanagan said, in a statement issued through the Fine Gael press office: ""During a 1,500 word speech over 10 minutes on the second stage of the Finance Bill I drew on some elements of Deputy Burton's speech from the previous evening. I should have acknowledged that at the time and regret not doing so. As a new deputy I hope I haven't caused any offence and will certainly learn from this experience."

Mr Flanagan did not respond to calls made to his mobile telephone last evening.

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Deputy Burton said "that flattery is the highest form of praise".