AN ATTEMPT by Senator Ivor Callely to claim “relocation” expenses during an Oireachtas recess in 1994 was rejected by the Department of Finance, a committee investigating his expenses has heard.
Independent Senator Joe O’Toole, a member of the Committee on Members’ Interests of Seanad Éireann, said Mr Callely had not said anything to indicate he understood the difference between principal residences, weekend homes and temporary relocation.
“Back in 1994 . . . you attempted to claim expenses for relocation during a recess period or something to west Cork during periods of the year and at that stage you were told that it was not acceptable, that your west Cork home was no more than a weekend home,” Mr O’Toole said.
Mr Callely appeared before the committee for a second time to explain his €81,015 travel expenses and why he claimed for the 370km journey between Leinster House and a property in Kilcrohane, west Cork, instead of from a property in Clontarf, Dublin, over a two-year period.
Mr Callely 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.
Mr O’Toole said he was “not able to put together any plausible explanation except to say your primary residence was in Clontarf”.
He said Mr Callely was registered to vote in Dublin, correspondence from the Seanad was sent to his Dublin address 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.
Mr Callely told the committee the house in west Cork had been for sale since “04/05-ish”. He said he had never denied it was for sale and insisted he would not benefit, in terms of capital gains tax liability, if it was sold.
Asked by Mr O’Toole if he owned the property in west Cork, Mr Callely said: “I have a right to reside in west Cork but it’s not in my ownership.”
He then told Mr O’Toole: “I think you’re going over the line.”
Labour Senator Alex White told Mr Callely the committee did not want to “trespass” on “delicate family matters” but said Mr Callely kept “bringing them in and then refusing to talk about them”.
Mr White said Clontarf was a place Mr Callely had a “very, very, very close connection with on a continuing basis” and a “whole myriad of factors” pointed to Clontarf rather than west Cork being his primary residence.
Under questioning from Mr White, Mr Callely said four times that he would not be “bullied”.
He said: “There’s a rain cloud hanging over me and my family at the moment and it’s not a very nice position to be in.” The Senator, who has resigned the Fianna Fáil whip, insisted he had acted honestly and in good faith.
He revealed “things have happened” to his family home in Clontarf on three occasions when he was not there since the matter of his expenses had been highlighted. Gardaí were involved on one occasion, he said.
Green Party Senator Dan Boyle asked how Mr Callely checked when he was in Dublin and when he was in west Cork, when compiling expenses returns.
Mr Callely said: “When I’m not committed to this House, I’m in west Cork . . . I don’t write, ‘I’m going to Kilcochrane tonight’ in my diary.”
Mr Boyle said he found it “incredible” Mr Callely did not have a written record.
The committee adjourned at 9.30pm and will meet again at noon today in private session to give further considersideration to its draft report to the Seanad.
