Dáil to block premium rate phone calls

Dáil phones are to be blocked from making premium rate calls in the wake of a controversy involving Kerry TD Michael Healy Rae.

Last week, the Kerry TD paid the cost of more than 3000 phone calls made from an Oireachtas phone which supported him while he was a contestant on a reality TV show in 2007, however he stated that he didn't know who had made the calls.