Holes in Oireachtas expenses records

THE Oireachtas Commission is unable to provide a complete record of TD and Senator expenses over the last decade because of a 32-month gap in official archives.

Coming after the latest revelations over Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue’s expenses, the Irish Examiner has learned that complete records for a near three-year period between January 1998 and June 2003 have not been found.

Responding to a Freedom of Information request seeking a detailed breakdown of all TD and Senator expenses since the start of 1998, the commission said an “estimated” 3,200 pages of records had been lodged between 1998 and 2004 alone.