Alan Shatter: €12 expense claim not for my passport

TD Alan Shatter has revealed a €12 expense claim for photos was related to a foreign visa needed for his ministerial duties, and not for his own passport.

The Dublin TD, who left the Cabinet last year, said Defence department officials asked him to submit receipts for the cost of the photos, and other doctors’ fees connected with the ministerial visit to the Middle East at the end of 2013.

Mr Shatter said that the visa was needed so he could conduct the trip as defence minister, which saw him visit Irish peace-keeping troops and also a refugee camp.

The deputy expressed upset at the way he had been depicted as a result of the expense claim.

Mr Shatter said that despite widespread foreign travel as a minister, he had never claimed the daily allowance all ministers are entitled to for such trips.

The former minister said claims the photos were for his own passport “depicted me as a dishonest, money-grabbing politician, fleecing taxpayers by an indefensible expenses claim”.

The TD said that, as a result of the reports, he “became the object of vile anti-semitic comment.

“The story fitted neatly into centuries of anti-semitic caricature,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “The allegation made was that, when minister for justice and defence, I had made an expenses claim of €12 for photos I required for my personal passport. Of course, I did not.

“The true story is that in my role as minister for defence in November 2013 I undertook ministerial engagements in Lebanon, Jordan and Israel, which included visiting Irish troops engaged in a variety of UN missions and a refugee camp in Jordan accommodating many thousands. Arrangements for the visit required my obtaining inoculations and photos for a Lebanese visa. I was asked to furnish all relevant receipts to the department of Defence and did so.”