Callely defends car ‘inducement’ to aide

JUNIOR MINISTER Ivor Callely last night defended offering a new car to a member of his staff to prevent his resignation.

The beleaguered junior minister broke a 24-hour silence to admit that he offered his parliamentary assistant Niall Phelan an “inducement” to stay, after he informed Mr Callely that he was leaving.

But questions still hang over Mr Callely’s future as a junior minister, following what Mr Phelan described as the wholly inappropriate offer to him.