This article is from page 3 of the 2011-02-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
A WAR of words has erupted between rival General Election candidates over Dáil expenses, after Cllr Tony Mulcahy accused Cllr James Breen of using a call to abolish Dáil expenses as a “cynical exercise” to get elected.
Fine Gael candidate, Cllr Mulcahy, launched a scathing attack on the move made by Cllr Breen when he said, “We should reduce Dáil expenses and abolish them altogether and oblige TDs to live on their salary with no expenses.”
“Saying he wants expenses abolished is rich,” blasted Mulcahy to The Clare People this week. “It’s cynical exercise in self-promotion in the run up to the election from a man who had no difficulty in collecting almost € 1 million during the lifetime of the last Dáil between his TD’s salary, his expenses, his independent TD’s allowance, his council expenses and council severance payments. This is like St Paul on the road to Damascus,” added Cllr Mulcahy.
However, an unrepentant Cllr Breen has reiterated his call for an overhaul of the expenses structure, even going to far as to say, “I am pre- pared to forego expenses.”
Continuing, Cllr Breen said, “I will campaign for the abolition of expenses if I am elected to the Dáil.
“There are genuine out of pocket expenses that you would have to claim for always. I will be campaigning for a reduction in expenses for everyone
and a reduction in
TDs’ salaries.”
Figures secured
by The Clare Peo
ple show that Cllr
Breen received
nearly € 400,000
in expenses during
the lifetime of the
29th Dáil between
2002 to 2007. This
included payments
for six years, with
figures showing that
he received € 71,868 (2003), € 62,539 (2004), € 75,122 (2005), € 70,947 (2006) and € 48,000 (2007).
However, Cllr Breen has defended these claims and said, “When I was a TD I had three people working for me and my expenses went towards employing three people. I had one person employed part-time in Dublin, I had an IT advisor in Clare and a girl worked two days a week in my office in Clare.
“It’s about reforming for the future, not the past,” he added.