The Seanad Committee on Members' Interests has tonight recommended Senator Ivor Callely be suspended from the House for 20 days without pay.
The committee announced its decision after Mr Callely appeared before it in hearings this week.
He had been asked to explain his €81,015 travel expenses and why he claimed for the 370km journey between Leinster House and his property in Kilcrohane, west Cork, instead of from his property in Clontarf, Dublin, over a two-year period.
The Senator, who has resigned the Fianna Fáil whip, has insisted he had acted honestly and in good faith.
However, the Oireachtas committee report found Callely intentionally misrepresented his normal place of residence for the purposes of claiming expenses and was continuing to do so. This was "inconsistent with the proper performance by Senator Callely of the function of the office of a Senator” and was “of significant public importance", the report said.
The report said Mr Callely should be suspended from the service of the Seanad for 20 days and have his salary withheld because the misrepresentation was done “intentionally and was of a grave nature”.
The committee urged Mr Callely, “in conjunction with the relevant authorities”, take account of the findings of its report and “regularise and make good” his allowance affairs and cease misrepresenting his normal place of residence.
The report referred to Mr Callely’s “clear undertaking”, when he appeared before the committee for the first time on June 25th, that he would reimburse or repay any overpayment of allowances.
Earlier this week, Mr Callely had told the committee he is planning to sell his Co Cork house. Under questioning from fellow Senators, Mr Callely said his property in west Cork had been for sale since "2004/05-ish". He said he had never denied the property was for sale and said he was tax compliant.
Independent Senator Joe O'Toole claimed there were "many contradictions" in Mr Callely's evidence and he had put the committee in an absolutely impossible situation. Mr O’Toole told Mr Calley he was “not able to put together any plausible explanation except to say your primary residence was in Clontarf”.
Mr O’Toole said Mr Callely was registered to vote in Dublin, his correspondence was sent there and he advertised clinic times on his website. “Every bit of information in front of us points at Dublin. Nothing points at Cork,” Mr O’Toole said. Under questioning from Labour Senator Alex White, Mr Callely said four times that he would not be “bullied”.
An by Mr Callely to claim “relocation” expenses during an Oireachtas recess in 1994 was rejected by the Department of Finance, the Committee on Members’ Interests of Seanad Éireann heard yesterday.
Mr Callely gave evidence to the committee for a second time this week. At the first hearing late last month, he insisted that he broke no regulations because he was using the holiday home in west Cork as his principal residence after losing his Dáil seat. He did concede there were anomalies but asserted that he had been honest in all his dealings in relation to his residence and his expenses’ claims.
After the committee, chaired by the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad Pat Moylan, completed its public hearings it went into private session. It reported on the case to the Seanad before it broke for the summer recess.
Mr Callely had insisted the property in Kilcrochane was his main place of residence under terms outlined by the Department of Finance for the claiming of expenses. He said his average working week varied, depending on the time of year and projects he was undertaking, but generally he would go to west Cork on Thursday or Friday and return to Dublin on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday.