Cowen: Callely should consider his position

IVOR CALLELY should consider his position in the Seanad, according to the Taoiseach, who said a weekend statement on the latest expenses controversy “raises more questions than answers”.

The under-fire senator finally broke his silence to claim he was the victim of a “witch hunt” over allegations he used forged receipts from a firm that had ceased trading to claim almost €3,000 in expense claims for phone equipment.

He did not deny the receipts were fake but said they were submitted in “good faith” and he paid back the money.

Brian Cowen, who was at the Tullamore Show yesterday, reacted to the statement by saying there are “questions that obviously need to be answered” and Mr Callely will have to put his position before a Fianna Fáil committee investigating the allegations.

Mr Callely has refused to resign from his €80,000-a -year Seanad post because that would be “running away” from the problem when, as he put it, “they are picking on me.”

Fine Gael said “an invitation to resign” from the Taoiseach is something that “circumstances warrant”. But Mr Cowen said: “I am not in a position to arrange that to happen.

Speaking in Tullamore Mr Cowen said: “I have made my position quite clear. It is a matter for him to consider now.”

The Seanad Committee on Members Interests will today meet to decide whether it should start investigating the allegations or refer the issue to a Dáil committee because the money was claimed when Mr Callely was a TD and junior minister in 2007.

Green Party Senator Dan Boyle, who is a member of the Seanad committee, but will not take part in the investigation, said he did not find Mr Callely’s statement credible.

He said “It provokes more questions than it answers,” and “the best course of action would be for him to resign.”