Two Clare Councillors have featured in an investigation into breaches of rules on expenses received from external organisations.
They’re among hundreds of representatives across the country who have been accused of contravening the Local Government Act, in an expose in the RTE Investigates programme.
RTE Investigates obtained details of expense claims from every local authority in the country, including Clare County Council.
It suggests two Ennis Councillors – Fine Gael representative Mary Howard and Fianna Fail’s Clare Colleran Molloy both contravened local government law in not declaring external expenses.
It’s believed Councillor Colleran Molloy attended two separate events in April 2017 on the same day and lodged two separate expense claims – returning to Ennis after a meeting in Dublin before driving back to Meath for the second event.
The rules stipulate that in such situations, a councillor is entitled to claim for “the shortest overall route” between the two events and not for two return trips home.
Cllr Colleran Molloy says she takes full responsibility for the claims, which she says were made in good faith, and has reimbursed €343 to Clare County Council.
RTE Investigates discovered four separate instances of Cllr Mary Howard having clashed commitments with council training seminars and board commitments to the Limerick & Clare Education & Training Board and GMIT, of which she was a board member of both.
They include an overnight claim for a seminar in Cork in September 2016 when Cllr Howard participated LCETB interviews the following morning, which she also claimed for.
Cllr Howard told RTE Investigates that, in regards to that matter, she drove back to Limerick early on Friday, and then returned to Bantry after the interviews were finished.
In a statement to Clare FM, the Ennis Councillor says she has been in contact with Clare County Council and the other named bodies and has asked them to review the matter and to rectify the situation where appropriate.
Councillor Howard has confirmed that she attended all events on all dates in question for which she claimed travel and subsistence payments and hopes to bring this matter to a conclusion within the coming days.
Statement from Councillor Mary Howard
On Monday, 21st June 2021 I received a query from the RTÉ Investigates / Primetime programme in relation to a programme which aired this evening concerning Councillors’ payments for attendance at events and meetings of external bodies.
I replied directly to RTÉ in relation to the queries that they raised with regards to myself. I have also been in contact with Clare County Council and the other named bodies and have asked them to review the matter and to rectify the situation where appropriate.
For absolute clarity, I can confirm that I attended all events on all dates in question for which I claimed travel and subsistence payments.
I hope to bring this matter to a conclusion within the coming days.
