‘Lazy’ journalists forced resignation, says senator

FIANNA FÁIL senator Ned O’Sullivan has come to the defence of fellow Kerryman John O’Donoghue, claiming he was driven out of office by lazy journalists with nothing better to do.

Mr O’Sullivan said the “mistakes” made by the outgoing Ceann Comhairle “certainly were not made by one individual” and “were not all made by one government, nor were they made by one party”.

As drama unfolded in the Dáil on Tuesday, leading to the eventual statement of resignation from Mr O’Donoghue, Mr O’Sullivan told the Seanad his colleague “has been extremely unfairly treated by the media in recent weeks”.

He also hit out at journalists for uncovering information on politicians’ expenses “on lazy days when they have nothing better to do” and said Oireachtas staff have “more to do” than deal with Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from the media.

Mr O’Sullivan described his own expenses claims as “meagre”, although an FOI request by the Irish Examiner found he claimed €24,790 in the first six months of this year.

Mr O’Sullivan told the Seanad he has been subject to seven FOI requests since he was appointed to the Seanad by Bertie Ahern two years ago.

“I have no problem with them and I am happy to put on view my meagre expenses,” he said. “However, members should consider the time and cost involved to the taxpayer.”

Mr O’Sullivan said: “Staff in Leinster House have more to do than answer all journalists who, on a lazy days when they can find nothing better to do, delve into the individual or collective expenses of members.”

He urged his colleagues to consider the role of the media in creating “people’s distrust in politicians”.

John O’Donoghue was eventually forced to resign following revelations of his expense claims amounting to €550,000 during his time as Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism and €230,000 during his time as Ceann Comhairle – which only came to light through FOI requests by the Sunday Tribune. The newspaper paid fees of up to €600 for some information requests.

Mr O’Sullivan questioned if the fee charged to newspapers for the searching is enough, given the man hours spent by civil servants retrieving it.

“It should be examined to ascertain whether value for money is being achieved in respect of the data being given out,” he said. “If the information is so important, if the public wants it so much and if the media are so concerned about its relevance and importance, then the latter should be prepared to pay for it.”