Roche accuses FG of conference expenses fraud
Mr Roche warned he would use his ministerial powers to stop local authorities sanctioning such expenses if they did not do it voluntarily.
The minister said when he heard about the Fine Gael plan from one local authority, he thought it was outrageous. Councillors can claim €1.28 per mile for the 200-mile round trip. They are also entitled to overnight expenses of €138 for the two-night stay, as well as being entitled to a conference fee of €200.
“It is an absolute breathtaking combination of sleaze, hypocrisy and arrogance. What Fine Gael councillors are trying to do is to siphon money belonging to taxpayers through local authorities,” Minister Roche said.
The cost of all 400 Fine Gael councillors attending this conference could be anywhere between €200,000 and €250,000, he added.
But when informed that a maximum of 100 Fine Gael councillors would be attending the party conference in Athlone, Minister Roche said: “This is outrageous, what they are saying is that we are only stealing a small amount of money from the taxpayers’ fund.”
One local authority has already rescinded its Fine Gael councillors’ rights to claim expenses for attending this conference.
Mr Roche said he would do all in his powers to stop local authorities sanctioning the expenses if they do not do it voluntarily.
“The reality is that they (Fine Gael) are not going to get away with this fraud - they are now exposed for what they are,” he added.
Successive Environment Ministers have cautioned councillors that they have to be careful about conferences, and local authorities have adopted a protocol prohibiting them sending councillors to party political conferences.
The minister said that earlier this year, Fine Gael’s finance spokesman Richard Bruton said it was time for the Government to protect the taxpayers from poor spending of public money.
“If Fianna Fáil attempted the same thing, Richard Bruton would explode in a fit of moral indignation that would make (volcano Mount) Krakatoa look like a hiccup,” Minister Roche said.
But Fine Gael rejected the minister’s claim that they were defrauding the taxpayer of any money and insisted that it was up to each local authority to decide what conferences were appropriate to cover in councillors’ expenses.
“Fianna Fáil councillors in Minster Roche’s own backyard of Wicklow actually belonged to the cross-party protocol committee which decided to send the county council’s Fine Gael chairman to this conference,” the Fine Gael spokesman said.
This is a significant event with speakers on many topics affecting local government, and Fine Gael has asked all local authorities to consider it on the list of events that would be eligible for councillors to attend, he added.
