Callely released on bail

Former Junior Minister Ivor Callely has been released on bail this afternoon after being charged with six counts of fraud at Dublin District Court.

No plea was entered and Callely, 54, was bailed to appear again at the District Court on April 25.

The former Fianna Fáil TD and Senator, who has been at the centre of an investigation over mobile phone expenses he claimed during his time in the Seanad, was detained this morning in Dublin.

The offences date from November 2007, February 2008 and September to December 2009.

Mr Callely, who lives at St Lawrence Road, Clontarf, north Dublin was arrested at his office in nearby Killester this morning.

In April 2011, a political ethics watchdog sent a file on Mr Callely to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) after investigations into irregular communications claims.

The former senator was accused of falsely claiming about €3,000 for mobile expenses for a company that had gone out of business, leading to in-house probes and the Garda inquiry.

He is accused of supplying invoices from the business even though it was not trading.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had been sent a file by the garda fraud squad after Mr Callely was questioned last year.