Minister for Tourism Mary Hanafin has called on Senator Ivor Callely to fully address the issues around his expenses as more revelations come to light about donations he received.
Ms Hanafin described the ongoing saga over Mr Callely as an "embarrassment" to Fianna Fáil and said that it discredited the whole of the political profession.
"I think it's really important that any issues which are outstanding from Ivor Callely, that he would deal with them immediately," she said on RTÉ radio this morning.
"The Senate Committee is meeting on Monday so I hope that he will address the issues there, that he will provide whatever answers he has," she added.
Green Party Senator Dan Boyle has claimed that Senator Ivor Callely did not declare all properties referred to at Seanad hearings to the Oireachtas register of members' interests.
Mr Boyle, a member of the committee that found against Mr Callely in a recent expenses probe, said: "I subsequently saw his entry in the [register of] members' interests. It didn't list all the properties referred to at the hearings.
"It's another peculiar set of circumstances that needs investigation, probably by an authority other than the Seanad committee," he said.
Meanwhile the Seanad investigating committee has brought forward its meeting about the controversy surrounding Senator Ivor Callely's Oireachtas expenses from August 31st to Monday next, following complaints about his claims to the Garda.
Mr Callely claimed almost €3,000 for the purchase of mobile phones and related services from a company that the Companies Registration Office records show had ceased trading.
Fine Gael's justice spokesman Senator Eugene Regan today called on the Seanad committee to stop "tip-toeing" around Mr Calley and refer the matter of the his expenses to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
"People are being hauled before the courts every day for social welfare fraud, presumably for lesser amounts than €81,000, yet Senator Callely is given a mere slap on the wrist by comparison and a 20 day suspension from the Seanad," he said. "We cannot allow these matters to continue to go unchecked."
The Irish Times revealed today that Senator Callely received a second political donation from a businessman involved in the company whose invoices were used to support the mobile phone expenses claim. Kevin Baxter said yesterday he contributed €800-€900 to the politician by attending a dinner organised by Mr Callely in Dáil Éireann around Christmas 2007.
No record of the contribution, which is above the limit for declaration, exists with the Standards in Public Office Commission.
Ms Hanafin refused to say whether the senator should resign, despite her fellow cabinet colleague Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan yesterday saying that he should if the allegations about him are true.
However, Ms Hanafin did say that it was unlikely that an expenses scandal involving Oireachtas members would occur in the future.
""The expenses regime has been really tightened up inthe past 12 months. This type of thing can not happen again. It is much more accountable now and we are also bound by the Standards in Public Office Commission regarding all declarations, there are legal requirements there, they have to be upheld," she said.
"I hope that Senator Callely ensures that he's able to provide the answers to these stories that we are reading," Ms Hanafin said.