O’Donoghue expenses - Time to end shabby affair

THE revelations about the brazen extravagance of the members of the House of Commons came about when information was leaked to the press.

They forced change that would not otherwise have occurred. The consequences were widespread and ended many careers.

In Ireland the furore surrounding Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue’s expenses drags on and on, all the while undermining our political system. Yesterday Fine Gael and Labour were joined by the Greens when they called for a “resolution of the conflict”.

In Ireland we are well used to waiting for “conflicts” to be resolved. No one has yet been charged much less convicted for any of the chicanery that destroyed our economy. None of those who Frank Dunlop said he bribed have been charged much less jailed.

Mr O’Donoghue holds two positions of great privilege, Ceann Comhairle and chairman of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. Though not as bizarre as putting the late Liam Lawlor in charge of the Oireachtas’s ethics committee Mr O’Donoghue’s continued chairmanship of the body charged with Oireachtas reform is fast becoming another bad Irish joke.

Mr O’Donoghue’s expenses have become a litmus test issue. The Taoiseach must either publicly support Mr O’Donoghue’s behaviour or fire him.

Then we will know if this is really just an embarrassing sideshow or if Mr O’Donoghue’s behaviour might represent the tip of an expenses iceberg.

Then we will know if the Government is serious about restoring this country’s battered reputation — no matter whose behaviour contributed to its destruction.