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Updated: 18.13
FINE GAEL TD Michelle Mulherin has repaid a further €1,295 for calls she made to Kenya from her personal phone in Leinster House.
A spokesperson for the Oireachtas confirmed that Mulherin had repaid the money, but said they would not be commenting further on the matter.
The Mayo TD, who had previously paid back €2,000, repaid the additional funds after it emerged that 130 calls to an African mobile phone cost a total of €3,295.
Here are the Oireachtas receipts for the repaid money:
Source: The Oireachtas
The extra cost of the calls was discovered after Mulherin requested an investigation into how details of the situation made their way into the public domain following an RTÉ Investigations Unit report.
In a letter sent to the Ceann Comhairle, Mulherin said she was amazed to have been identified publicly.
The Oireachtas report found that it did not release any material that might have identified the TD. It states:
No details in relation to calls dialled by Deputy Mulherin were released for both legislative reasons but also because the Oireachtas Service does not record that information.
Mulherin has not responded to TheJournal.ie’s request for comment.
Last month she confirmed on Today with Seán O’Rourke that the calls were made to an individual by the name of Danson Kole who she said had been “maligned and defamed” in the media. He worked on her election campaign in 2011.
Yes, I made some calls to Africa. None of them were personal. Indeed for the most part they pertained to a third party, who is a private citizen, who had been maligned and defamed in a newspaper article because of association with me and potential legal action arising there from.
At the time Ken Foxe, the RTÉ journalist who broke the story, pointed out on Twitter that many of the calls made to Kenya pre-date the newspaper article in question:
Mulherin said the calls, made between 2011 and 2013, were work-related.
She told RTÉ she repaid the money “to avoid any perception that I benefitted personally and to put an end to the distraction and disruption to my work as a TD”.
Originally published: 12.45
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Million percent right..
Ireland, where the tourists rent houses and residents live in hotels.
Never again?
@Ciaran Whyte: “Let’s pretend that no Hotelier backer Lobbyists have asked me to make these demands today!”
There isn’t an ‘oversupply’ of air bnbs. If there was , they wouldn’t be profitable and they wouldn’t exist. The demand is there. There’s an undersupply of long-term housing.
@David Law:
The demand WAS there, Paul, pre Covid-19!
Now Dublin, our other cities, and indeed locations all over Country, have hotels that are almost boarded up, 000’s of staff on short-time or made unemployed due to a global pandemic that is showing no sign of relenting.
The Min should consider parking a decision on AirBnB, banning it altogether from our Cites for 3 yrs or so, and allowing hotel sector recover once global Tourism shows signs of sustainable recovery.
Implementation of this plan over a three year window would allow the Dept of H take stock – so to speak – towards a fuller understanding of the marketplace in our cities, when C-19 dust finally settles.
New trends need evaluation; home working, seniors selling up, EU workers returning home.
Kick for touch Minister!
Seriously, on Christmas eve?? Give it a break for a few days at least. Happy Christmas everyone
@Paul Dolan: People who were homeless yesterday, and who will still be homeless tomorrow, will not magically be not homeless on Christmas eve, Paul. I hope you’ll have a nice warm dry bed tonight. I will, but I never forget that not everyone has.
@Fachtna Roe: I do indeed and for your information, I donated to a charity that is involved with homeless. My comment was targeted at the journal to give it a rest on xmas eve. Happy Christmas
@Paul Dolan: my home is a Airbnb and I have two homeless people here for Christmas to try and help, actually they are here every other week for a meal / shower / bed. Why the f is everyone picking on Airbnb rather than TripAdvisor Expedia etc etc… happy Christmas
@Paul Dolan: Christmas Eve is probably more important than ever to highlight this.
@Paul Somers: AirBnB MADE this market. That’s why the catch the most ire.
Let the Minister understand that the short term letting AirBnb will exacerbate the already disgraceful Housing Crisis. Citizens are more important than tourists
My home (my house) is a Airbnb, I live here and depend on hopefully some income to pay the bills (no customers since March) , I can not nor could apply for any income support. I have nothing.
Can someone please pick on Bord Failte, TripAdvisor, Expedia, Booking.com or someone else for a change.
For any bully boy tactics by politicians they should look in their own green house before throwing stones.
@Paul Somers: I have no issue with people operating an airbnb. Only as long as they have planning permission to do so. Why should a business such as a proper B&B pay huge money for PP, fire certs, disabled access, rates etc when someone next door to them can, in a regular house, with no overheads, compete against them. It’s wrong, simple as.
@Paul Somers: if you can’t afford to keep up your mortgage payments, then sell up and rent somewhere else. It’s what everyone else is doing, why can’t you?
@Laura McCarthy: I do
Hospitality lobby pays politician to further curtail your rights over your own property.
@Notes are notes: You have the right to use your *residential* property for *residential* purposes. You do not have any constitutional right to run a low rent hotel in your home, nor should you.
@Notes are notes: if you want to operate your property as a commercial enterprise then get planning permission and pay rates, etc
@Notes are notes: no, sorry, you missed the boat on that one. There’s these things called “regulations” you see. See also: “your fellow citizens”. Life is not a free ride in which you can just do whatever the hell you want. Merry Christmas!
We don’t need more regulations. All we need is increase supply of housing and leave the short term letting market alone
@The Man: if you’re using a residential property for short term lets then you should be paying commercial rates and water charges like every other business.
@The Man: “You’re de Man” …. increase the supply of housing not attack AirBnB – daft stuff.
Parents should support this call for a Referendum asap … or watch their kids in Rent slavery for a very long time into the future.
https://www.change.org/p/irish-referendum-on-family-home-special-status/dashboard
How about the insurance company’s buddy……ohh wait they lobby and contribute
Why do we not encourage and promote long term letting with rent freezes for renters and tax breaks for landlords – as they do in Europe. 50 year leases and more.
@Peter Byrne: home “ownership” is a scam
Typical of our politicians to regulate where it’s not needed and ignore areas that desperately need regulation. The housing crisis is not down to Airbnb and all this will do is damage tourism.
And Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Green Party pigs will fly….
Lies,ies lies lies lies, *in the tune of Rihanna work work work work*
Good idea just some years too late. But better late as usual than never
I have no issue with people operating an airbnb. Only as long as they have planning permission to do so. Why should a business such as a proper B&B pay huge money for PP, fire certs, disabled access, rates etc when someone next door to them can, in a regular house, with no overheads, compete against them. It’s wrong, simple as.
Hmmmmm
have your say