John O'Donoghue (politician)

Following an investigation in 2009 by Ken Foxe, Public Affairs correspondent with the Sunday Tribune, a controversy erupted over the amount and nature of O'Donoghue's spending and expenses. Foxe submitted a number of Freedom of Information requests that resulted in embarrassing forensic details of O'Donoghue's expense claims.

During a two-year tenure as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, O'Donoghue's ministerial expenses amounted to €126,000. The Minister claimed expense claims that involved foreign trips for himself and both his wife and personal secretary. Sinn Féin raised the spending spree with the Dáil, while a Fine Gael spokesperson branded the expense claims as "indulgent".[3]

In May 2006, O'Donoghue used the government jet for a six-day journey at the cost of €32,450. O'Donoghue, accompanied by his wife, attended the Cannes Film Festival. He returned from Cannes to Kerry to attend the opening of new offices for the Fexco company in Killorglin. He then travelled from Kerry to Cardiff for the Heineken Cup final, which Munster won, and travelled back to Cannes by government jet. He went from Cannes to London for a Ryder Cup promotional event, before returning to Dublin on 24 May 2006.[4]

Expenses for car-hire services provided by a London-based firm to O'Donoghue during four visits to Britain in 2006 and 2007 came to a total of €21,289.57, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act. Documents released to The Irish Times showed that three of the four visits were connected with O'Donoghue's attendance at race meetings in Cheltenham and Ascot.[5]

In 2006, when O'Donoghue visited Manchester on official business during St Patrick's week prior to attending Cheltenham, car-hire payments made to Terry Gallagher of Cartel Limousines Ltd came to €7,591.96 for "airport pick-ups". This covered the period 11–13 March. In June 2007, O'Donoghue attended the Royal Ascot race meeting over a four-day period and Gallagher's firm was paid a total of €3,582.22, according to the official receipts.[4][5]

On 21 August 2009, the Irish Independent reported that in January 2006 O'Donoghue spent €472 on a limousine to commute between terminals in London Heathrow Airport despite a free airport service between the terminals existing for passengers. Fine Gael Environment spokesman Phil Hogan further criticised O'Donoghue's expense claims, labelling them as unjustifiable and inexcusable.[6]

On 31 August 2009, O'Donoghue's expense claim controversy appeared on the front page of the Irish Independent, revealing how O'Donoghue received €330,000 in allowances and expenses in addition to his basic TD salary. It was further revealed that O'Donoghue flew to and from County Kerry at the expense of the taxpayer 73 times, despite having a full-time car driver to his service.[7]

In August 2009, government Minister Dick Roche called upon O'Donoghue to explain his expense claims.[8] These claims were echoed by opposition TDs including Fine Gael politician Leo Varadkar who called for a "full and Public" explanation, requesting an investigation as to whether O'Donoghue's expense claims were standard under Fianna Fáil leadership during his tenure as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism.[7] In August 2009, Independent TD Jackie Healy-Rae requested a public statement from O'Donoghue, reiterating the need for O'Donoghue to defend himself, claiming that "the people want answers".[7]

In a letter sent to all members of the Dáil on 11 September 2009, O'Donoghue defended his record as a Minister and as Ceann Comhairle.[9] He said he had stayed silent so far on the issue in order to protect the impartiality of his current position. He acknowledged that some of the costs incurred appeared high, and regretted that they occurred. He also pointed out that a minister would not be informed of the details of such expenditure and he said he would work to ensure such costs are reduced to the minimum in the future.[9]

Despite the extravagance of the reported expense claims and his delay in addressing the controversy, O'Donoghue maintained that he acted in "good faith". O'Donoghue refused to comment on newspaper articles that revealed indulgent expenditure.[10] In response to O'Donoghue's letter, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny called on O'Donoghue to issue a public apology to the Irish public for the expenses incurred, claiming that the O'Donoghue's response "did not go far enough".[11] Fianna Fáil TD Mattie McGrath speaking on Today FM compared O'Donoghue's actions to that of a 'latter day prince'.

In an interview on the RTÉ News: Six One on 14 September 2009, Róisín Shortall of the Labour Party claimed that O'Donoghue had underestimated the public's anger against what she called his "junketeering". She questioned the nature of O'Donoghue's statement that failed to address the public, maintaining that it "would be very very" difficult for him to hold his position of Ceann Comhairle.[9]

On 3 October 2009, some hours after the information had been provided to an Irish newspaper under an FOI request, O'Donoghue's expenses record was released by his office. €45,000 had been spent on internal flights, while a reported €5,000 was claimed for VIP lounge access. Further spending included presents for dignitaries and flights for his wife. Coincidentally, two of O'Donoghue's trips to Paris took place at the same time as the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.[12] On 4 October 2009, the full extent of O'Donoghue's trips to Paris were revealed by several national newspapers. It was reported that in 2007, Mr O'Donoghue spent two days at the races while his meeting with the French National Assembly only took place while travelling between his hotel and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. Further spending which was branded as lavish included €1,543 spent on transport over a three-day period and hotel costs in excess of €500 per night. It was widely reported that in total O'Donoghue's trip cost €6,126.42, which was later claimed as 'expenses'.[13]

Sinn Féin were the first to call for O'Donoughue to resign, claiming his position was untenable given "a continued waste of public money" since he took the job.[14] In a debate in the Dáil on 6 October 2009, Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore also said that John O'Donoughue's position as Ceann Comharile was "untenable", and that the Labour Party would table a motion of no confidence in him.[14] After the Dáil debate, the Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny issued a statement calling on O'Donoughue to "resign forthwith" in the interest of the independence of the office of the Ceann Comhairle.[15]

O'Donoghue resigned his position of Ceann Comhairle on 13 October 2009.[14][16] In his resignation statement, O'Donoghue defended his record in the controversy surrounding his foreign travel expenses, and said he was a scapegoat for an expenses regime that had fallen into disrepute.[17] He stated that his overseas travel spending was not markedly different from other Ministers and he also alleged that Eamon Gilmore's call for his resignation in the Dáil on 6 October 2009 had denied him the right to defend his position.[17]