AN ETHICS watchdog has found against a Donegal county councillor who filed separate expense claims for two conferences which took place on the same weekend.
The Standards in Public Office Commission found that Fine Gael councillor Terence Slowey had contravened the Ethical Framework for the Local Government Service and the Ethics in Public Office Acts. The investigation took place after it received a complaint from Cllr Brendan Byrne, then mayor of Donegal County Council, and Michael McLoone, then county manager of the local authority, concerning two expense claims made by Mr Slowey.
The complaint concerned expenses which Cllr Slowey claimed from Donegal County Council and the Border Regional Authority for attendance at conferences in Killarney and Clonakilty in 2008. Cllr Slowey said he had travelled to Killarney on October 16th to attend a local authority conference before attending a conference on October 17th in Clonakilty. He went back to Killarney that afternoon and attended the remainder of the first conference.
A hearing in March heard he paid back the expenses in full and accepted the contraventions.