O’Donoghue tops table with €28,842 over legal allowance

BIG spender John O’Donoghue used €17,000 worth of Oireachtas staff time in his three-week campaign for re-election last year.

The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, who topped the league for use of public funds, also told the Standards in Public Office Commission that he used €13,073 worth of Oireachtas envelopes and other stationery.

Mr O'Donoghue, who went into the election as outgoing justice minister, used €30,466 worth of manpower and materials from his publicly-funded Dáil and constituency offices during the campaign, which amounted to two-thirds of his total budget, and put him €28,842 over his legal allowance.