Bull lashes regime in hard-hitting speech
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FORMER Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue last night claimed he was made the "symbol" of a long-standing expenses regime that has fallen into disrepute.
He lambasted Sinn Fein and Labour for a "pre-emptive" motion of no confidence which denied him his constitutional right to provide a comprehensive explanation and defence of his expenses.
In a hard-hitting speech, Mr O'Donoghue told a packed Dail chamber he was not guilty of any corruption, had never taken money or abused his office for his own enrichment and did not receive a penny from the catalogue of expenses relayed in the media.
Since becoming Ceann Comhairle in 2007, Mr O'Donoghue said he had never acted in secret or sought to conceal from public knowledge the expenditure on his functions.
"I never transgressed any procedure, guideline or regulation. I never committed any offence. I am not guilty of any corruption. I never took money or abused my office for my own enrichment," he said.
Penny
"All these costs were paid to service providers. I did not receive a penny from such costs. These are the facts."
The outgoing Ceann Comhairle did not accept any wrongdoing or offer any fresh apology in his departing speech which attacked Opposition parties and the media.
Months of headlines aggregating his expenses, claiming he had demanded certain luxuries, failing to recognise that many expenses were part of official duties and suggesting he had reclaimed charitable donations were used to create an "ugly, grasping, black caricature of the man I am", he said.
However, he did concede that in these days of financial hardship, some of the expenses incurred were "excessive".
- Aine Kerr Political Correspondent
Irish Independent
