Hundreds of councillors failing to declare expenses or claiming double, investigation finds

Jerry Lundy, who  sat on Sligo County Council for 15 years, was found to have claimed expenses to events in Ireland while at the same time having officially attended European committee of the regions events in other EU countries.

Doubling up of dubious expense claims are among the examples of questionable behaviour by local councillors depicted by an RTÉ Investigates programme broadcast last night.

The investigation, titled Claims, Planes, and Automobiles, follows an intensive series of Freedom of Information requests by the programme’s makers, cross-referenced with expense claims lodged by councillors with bodies external to the local authority in question.