Calls for inquiry into Dáil phone use

THERE were calls for an inquiry into who abused the Leinster House phone facilities to help the son of a TD win a celebrity television show.

Ceann Comhairle Sean Barrett also expressed concern over how thousands of calls on Dáil Eireann facilities were made voting for Michael Healy-Rae on the Celebrities Go Wild show in October 2007.

His father Jackie Healy-Rae, a TD before him, held the seat for Kerry South. Jackie Healy-Rae refused to comment last night while Michael denied any involvement in the incident.

Leading Independent TD Finian McGrath last night demanded the funds be paid back and an investigation launched.

“I’m appalled and shocked that €2,500 of public money would be used in this fashion. It’s damaging to politics and politicians in general. The member concerned should put their hands up and take responsibility for it. They should come clean.”

The TD said no big inquiry was needed but that an Oireachtas Commission, the Public Accounts Committee or the Standards in Public Office Commission could investigate.

“There’s obviously a connection between Jackie and Michael. It’s an abuse of taxpayer’s money.”

Fellow Independent TD Catherine Murphy also rowed in behind calls for a limited inquiry.

“If somebody can be identified, yes they could be pursued for it [the money].”

TD Maureen O’Sullivan said “questions needed to be asked and answered.”

“If wrongdoing is found, it [the cost] should be returned. It should be investigated properly. The overall issue is whether the phone was being abused by other people,” she said.

Independent TD, John Halligan, said: “It’s an abuse of Dáil privilege, a self promotion of themselves. He [Michael] should pay the amount of money.”

Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett criticised the use of telephone facilities in Leinster House to make calls for the commercial voting line.

“The misuse of the resources provided to members for their public duties for the aim of voting in a television competition is an outrageous abuse of facilities. I am calling for the money to be repaid in full immediately. I also will ensure that the details of this matter are addressed in full at the next meeting of the Committee on Procedures and Privileges.”

RTÉ said it could not retrieve detailed records on the calls received for its show, which helped fund charity People in Need.

It added that €76,907 was raised via phone and text voting around the series.

“Given this vote event ran in October 2007, neither RTÉ nor its service providers now retain detailed call records for this event, to the degree to which we can identify voting patterns for identifiable phone numbers.”

It said that a minimum of 44c per call and text vote was donated to the Telethon People in Need fund.

It said that votes for Mr Healy-Rae had remained “consistently strong” during the show’s week but RTÉ could not release the number for commercial reasons.

“The number of votes reported to have been cast from Leinster House would not have made a material difference to the outcome of the competition.”

Four-day window for calls

The Oireachtas said that after its telecoms provider noted a spike in calls to the 1513 number at 4pm on October 25, it was blocked.

The block took place just two days before voting finished on the RTÉ Celebrities Go Wild show.

This means the calls could have been made for nearly four days, since the Monday when Dáil Éireann opened that week.

The contest had been launched the Friday before on the Late Late Show but Dáil Eireann offices would not have been accessible over the weekend.

Oireachtas members are entitled by law to free telephone calls from Leinster House to carry out their duties as public representatives.

They are provided with telephone facilities to make these calls with connectivity for local, national, mobile, premium rate and international calls, and with voicemail facilities where required, at Leinster House only.

In view of their roles as parliamentarians and public representatives under the Constitution, historically calls made by members are not logged for reasons of privacy and confidentiality.

Therefore, the Houses of the Oireachtas Service does not log calls from members’ handsets and therefor has no way of categorically stating whether a member is responsible for making or mandating particular calls or classes of calls.

The 2007 case is the only time that a service provider reported a spike in calls to the Oireachtas of this nature.

In total, 3,636 calls to 1513 71 71 07 (the vote number for Michael Healy-Rae) were made from the Oireachtas phone system. Each of those calls incurred a charge of 60c, plus VAT, giving a total of €2,639. That charge was paid to the telecom service provider for the Houses of the Oireachtas Service.