JOHN O'DONOGHUE'S EXPENSES: REACTION:FINE GAEL last night claimed credit for having "forced the Ceann Comhairle's hand" after John O'Donoghue said he would make "detailed proposals" to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission.
However, the Labour Party said Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny’s suggestion the controversy surrounding Mr O’Donoghue’s foreign travel expenses be dealt with by the commission was not appropriate.
A Fine Gael spokesman said: “We’re pleased that Enda Kenny has forced the Ceann Comhairle’s hand.” Mr Kenny had earlier called on the Green Party to “step up to the mark” on the controversy. “The Greens should actually step up to the mark here, accept responsibility and give the people of this country an opportunity to give a mandate to a government to sort all of this out,” he said.
Mr Kenny said a culture without responsibility and accountability had grown up over the last 12 years. “If it’s not John O’Donoghue today, it’ll be somebody else tomorrow,” he told the News at One on RTÉ Radio One.
Yesterday, Mr Kenny instructed the three Fine Gael members of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission to request the Ceann Comhairle reduce his staffing levels, remove his special adviser Dan Collins from his position and repay any costs incurred that did not directly relate to his office.
He said Mr O’Donoghue should “consider his position” if these matters were not addressed.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said he thought the matter went beyond the role of the commission. A Labour Party spokesman said one reason was that the committee included Senators. “This is a matter for the Dáil,” he said.
Letters from Mr Gilmore were yesterday given to the leaders of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Greens and Sinn Féin. They suggested a meeting between Mr Gilmore and Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Enda Kenny, John Gormley and Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin. The letters to Mr Cowen and Mr Gormley were faxed and those to Mr Kenny and Mr Ó Caoláin were hand-delivered, the spokesman said.
“If you are agreeable in principle to such a meeting, our respective offices could then make the appropriate organisational arrangements. In view of the urgency of this matter, I would ask you to respond to me in advance of the resumption of the Dáil at 2.30pm tomorrow,” the letter said. Mr Gilmore said the meeting of party leaders should consider how the controversy surrounding the Ceann Comhairle be addressed appropriately.
Labour TD Liz McManus said the situation was “extremely serious” and “a cause of scandal” at a party event yesterday. “The Ceann Comhairle, whoever he or she may be, is like Caesar’s wife, must be above reproach,” she said.
Meanwhile, Mr Gormley described the situation as a “running sore”. He said if the existing structures, such as the Oireachtas Commission, were unable to deal with the issue, he would bring it up during negotiations with Fianna Fáil on a new programme for government.
“We shouldn’t personalise the issue. I believe that there have been problems with the expenses regime for years. It hasn’t been corrected by any of the regular parties who are represented on this commission; my party is not represented on that commission,” he told reporters in Dublin yesterday morning.
Minister for Health Mary Harney said she did not think it would be appropriate for her to comment on Mr O’Donoghue’s situation.
“I think there’s been huge changes in the past number of months, particularly this year, in relation to ministerial travel and expenses given the serious financial situation we find ourselves in.
“I myself was due to attend two conferences this year and I’ve cancelled both of them in order to be mindful of the financial situation that the country finds itself in.”
Fine Gael frontbench TD Brian Hayes described the situation as “a crisis of the Ceann Comhairle’s own making”.
Speaking on the Six-Onenews on RTÉ One, Mr Hayes said Fianna Fáil Ministers had a "snouts-at-the-trough attitude".