Disgraced Callely still gets €1k a week pension
The junior minister between 2002 and 2005, who was appointed to the Seanad by the former taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, fraudulently claimed a total of €4,207.45 in mobile phone expenses from the Oireachtas.
Fianna Fáil so far hasn’t commented on whether he should hand back his Oireachtas pension which was worth €49,137 last year, reduced to €47,087 this year.
“The law as it stands at the moment dictates that he is legally entitled to it. Whether that should be changed is a matter I haven’t considered, but we will certainly look at that, I wouldn’t be closed to that suggestion at all,” said Limerick TD, Willie O’Dea.
He said the actions of his former colleague were “wrong” but that he has not been a member of the party for four years and his behaviour had no place in Fianna Fáil or any self-respecting party.
“The number of people who have offended in this way constitute a very small minority of the Fianna Fáil party.
“Certain people did misbehave, they breached the public trust, they let down the party and they let down the thousands of people around the country who go out knocking on doors, supporting us. And I very much regret that.”
Asked if Mr Callely could be readmitted to FF, Mr O’Dea said “You can never say never in this business, but I don’t envisage it. Somebody who would abuse the public trust in this way, I don’t think they should be readmitted to Fianna Fáil.”
Jobs Minister Richard Bruton, of Fine Gael, said the Oireachtas system of expenses “has been dramatically changed since those times”.
“There now is a vouched system and I know a lot of TDs are scrupulously pursued, and it is overseen by Sipo [Standards in Public Office Commission] and I think that system is working.”
Dáil members are entitled to claim up to €500 every 18 months for mobile phones and €250 for phone insurance and maintenance. No receipt or documentation is required for the €250 figure.
In May 2007, Callely lost his Dáil seat. He heard about the scheme when he was appointed to the Seanad the following August by then taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
Callely immediately submitted a claim for €701 relating to the purchase of a phone in 2006.
Then next day, he submitted three more invoices from his time as a TD for amounts up to €778.
After 18 months, Callely submitted another invoice for €737.60 for a phone, a car kit and insurance and maintenance. Another 18 months later, he submitted a sixth invoice for €580 relating to two Blackberry phones and two chargers.
In July 2010, the Oireachtas received a Freedom of Information request from a reporter relating to the expenses submitted in November 2007. The Oireachtas wrote to Callely and told him of the request.
Callely then contacted the office and requested access to his file. After reviewing it, he said he wanted to withdraw some of expense claims and issued them a refund of the amounts involved.
When gardaí began looking into the matter, they found one of the firms on the invoice, Business Communication Ltd, ceased trading in 1995.
Another company Callely used, Intec Ireland Ltd, closed in 2005, and never sold mobile phones in the first place. A third company, Allstat Ltd, had sold Callely two phones but within an 18-month period he had already invoiced for.
When investigators examined the Business Communication invoices, they noted that the amounts were in punts, despite them being dated in the late 2000s. Furthermore the phone number on the letter head didn’t have enough digits for a modern Dublin number.
A follow-up search of Callely’s Killester office found several blank documents with Business Communication letter heads.
Callely was arrested in January 2012 and interviewed six times. He denied any wrongdoing and told gardaí that he didn’t recognise the documents. He suggested his late business partner, John O’Dolon, might be responsible for them.
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