Madam, - Stolen goods were delivered to me in the post. As a good citizen I notified the relevant authorities and gave the name and address of the receiver of said stolen goods who had forwarded them to me. He was a local councillor and he had sent me election material in a stolen Oireachtas envelope.
The relevant authority, i.e. the Clerk of the Dáil, advised me that there is a complaints procedure under the Ethics Act 1995 and 2001 which may potentially be applicable in the event of misuse of postal facilities by a specified member of the Oireachtas.
He explained: "In that regard the relevant section of the Act, namely Section 8(2), states 'a person. . .who considers that a member. . .may have contravened sections 5 or 7 or done a specified act may make a complaint. . .to the Clerk'. In order to proceed with a complaint under the Act, it would be important that a specific member is identified or identifiable as having allegedly breached the Act."
Being a pensioner and not a private detective I have not got the resources to trace the member who stole the envelope or, more likely, envelopes.
In his column (July 6th) Fintan O'Toole recorded that the Tánaiste, Mary Harney, declared in the Dáil that she believed Oireachtas envelopes were used widely by a number of sides in the House in the recent local elections campaign.
She added: "I have in my possession some letters sent out by deputies seeking support, not all from the Government side." Has she done what I was not able to do? Has she sent the names of the thieves, sorry deputies, to the Clerk of the Dáil? Perhaps she would let us know. - Yours, etc.,
WESLEY BOYD, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin.