SENATOR IVOR Callely should consider his position in light of the latest controversy surrounding his expenses, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said ahead of today’s Seanad committee meeting to consider the matter.
Speaking in Tullamore yesterday, Mr Cowen said he was glad the Seanad Committee on Members’ Interests was moving quickly to deal with the Senator’s mobile phone claims involving a company that had ceased trading.
Mr Cowen said he was not in a position to force Mr Callely to resign from the Upper House but added, “It is a matter for him to consider now.”
“I don’t have the means by which that can happen from a request by me. But I have made my position clear as party leader. His membership has been suspended. There is an investigation which will be taking place in the coming weeks and there are questions obviously that need to be answered. He is not a member of the party as things stand. We have to have a full investigation into this and I am glad to see the Seanad committee will also be moving quickly on this,” said Mr Cowen.
In a statement issued on his behalf on Saturday, Mr Callely acknowledged that “very serious allegations” regarding his mobile phone expenses had been made in the media.
The statement said that in November 2007 he submitted four receipts for mobile phone charges to cover the period from January 2002 to July 2006.
“He received these receipts in good faith and submitted these receipts in good faith. ”
The statement added that the circumstances under which receipts were issued were being investigated and Mr Callely did not know how the receipts were issued by a company that had ceased trading.
“It is now clear that these claims should not have been made,” said the statement, adding that the Senator had now withdrawn the claims and refunded the €2,879.45 involved to the Leinster House authorities.
The Seanad committee will meet in private session at 2pm. If they decide Mr Callely may have contravened the Ethics in Public Office Act, a letter will be sent to him specifying the nature of the contravention and asking for a response.
The committee will have to decide if it is the appropriate body to look into the mobile phone allegations, considering that the expenses claim was made while he was a TD.
The implications of the investigation by the gardaí into the issue following the formal complaint made by Green Party TD, Paul Gogarty, will also be on the agenda.
One member of the committee, Green Party Senator Dan Boyle, has expressed concern that they may be unable to hold public hearings into the matter as they could prejudice any Garda inquiry.
Mr Boyle yesterday questioned the credibility of Mr Callely’s statement and said that by paying the money back it seemed he could not account for the claim.
Mr Boyle said he would absent himself from the committee’s deliberations because he has spoken publicly on the matter, although he plans to attend today’s meeting.
In another development it has emerged Mr Callely is considering a High Court challenge to the 20-day suspension imposed on him by the committee for his earlier infringements of the expenses regime.