Wallace hurt 'independent brand'

THE CONDUCT of Wexford TD Mick Wallace has damaged the “independent brand”, a member of the Dáil technical group has said.

Independent TD Finian McGrath said Mr Wallace’s comments in a weekend RTÉ radio interview about speaking to a hitman as he sought to recover a IR£20,000 (€25,394) debt were “appalling” and not befitting of an Oireachtas member.

Mr McGrath, who represents Dublin North Central, said some people in his constituency had witnessed the threat posed and damage caused by hitmen and he did not appreciate the matter being spoken about “flippantly”.

He said he believed people gravitated towards “independent brand” election candidates because there was a air of “integrity” associated with them.

Mr McGrath said he feared that what Mr Wallace had said about hitmen, as well as the controversy surrounding his tax affairs, had caused reputational damage to that brand.

“Mick Wallace needs to wake up and realise he is in the Oireachtas now,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned that’s a privilege and an honour.”

The interview is understood to have angered a number of members of the technical group, who Mr Wallace accused of failing to back him because of media pressure when details of his €2.1 million settlement with the Revenue Commissioners for under-payment of VAT emerged.

Mr Wallace left the technical group voluntarily last June after the details of his tax affairs became public, but he has been granted Dáil speaking time by the group since then.

Mr McGrath and Waterford Independent TD John Halligan, who is also a technical group member, said they would no longer be willing to allocate Dáil speaking time to Mr Wallace.

The matter is to be discussed further when the technical group holds its weekly meeting today.

Mr Halligan said it was “outrageous” to say he had not backed Mr Wallace because of the media. He had been consistent in saying those who avoid tax should resign and it appeared Mr Wallace was on a “continuing crusade” to criticise the technical group.

Independent TD Catherine Murphy said she was “surprised” there was any expectation of loyalty from Mr Wallace given the nature of the technical group. The group was started as a means for its members to gain access to privileges usually reserved for members of larger political groupings such as Dáil speaking time, permission to ask priority questions and sitting on committees, she said. It did not come together as a result of a shared vision or ideology.

Ms Murphy last month wrote to Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett, after Mr Wallace sought to rejoin the technical group, requesting that the standing orders on how groups are formulated be changed to prevent deputies from being able to join despite the objections of its members.

Attempts to contact Mr Wallace last night were unsuccessful.