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Wynne received a TD’s annual salary of €113,679 but lost her seat at the last General Election last November.

Ex-TD Violet Anne Wynne tells court she can't afford to pay rent or debts to former employee

The former TD for Clare owes €6,500 to her former employee, who won an unfair dismissal case in the WRC last year.

FORMER INDEPENDENT TD Violet Anne Wynne has told a court that she cannot afford to pay her weekly rent of €300 and her family are depending on the goodwill of others.

Wynne appeared before Ennis District Court today over a €6,500 debt she owes to a former constituency worker of hers, who contested her dismissal by her former employer in August at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and was awarded €11,500.

The Clare TD, who lost her seat in the 2024 general election, was asked to substantiate her claims with a statement of means in order to prove that she did not have the income to pay the debt owed from the award granted by the WRC.

Judge Alec Gabbett today ordered Wynne to pay off the €6,500 debt, owed to former employee Fiona Smyth, by instalments of €50 per week. 

Smyth’s solicitor Daragh Hassett cross-examined Wynne: “It is costing €895 per week for you and your partner to run your household and your weekly income is €500 so you have a net loss of €395. How do you live?”

In response, Wynne said: “Family. Good will from a lot of people, who have been very understanding about my partner’s condition and the fact that we are facing very unprecedented circumstances.”

Wynne said that her partner is self-employed but has been unable to work since May due to suffering epilepsy seizures four times a day. She said that she has received loans from family to purchase groceries, clothes and items for her children. 

Hassett said: “For example, you told us ‘next week, it is going to cost us €895 to keep the ship afloat with only €500 coming in’, so where do you find the money?”

In reply, Wynne said: “We don’t. We get it in goodwill from the family, or we are not able to make those payments.”

Mr Hassett asked: “Are you paying your rent?”

In reply, Wynne said: “Currently, at the moment, not this week, no.”

She added: “We are living day by day and week by week.”

Judge demands more details from ex-TD

Hassett told Judge Gabbett “that there was scant detail” in the information provided and claimed the former TD’s story “doesn’t make any sense”.

He asked the judge to make the appropriate order for the repayment of the debt, who later went on to demand that Wynne be “more forthcoming” over the “serious deficit of information”.

“There may be a cogent explanation for some of this, but in the absence of paper it is problematic,” he told Wynne, who rejected that she had withheld any information from the court.

Judge Gabbett said he did not want a “patchwork quilt of information” and wanted the full story. He reminded Wynne that it is a criminal offence not to pay a debt that is owed.

Wynne said that her partner’s illness meant that he is not in a position to work currently. She added that she is currently caring for her six children. 

Asked by the judge why her husband does not claim a disability benefit, Wynne said he does not currently have a GP “because we were homeless during the election years”, which she clarified was two years ago.

Wynne said that disability benefit for her partner is something she will look into.

Dáil exit payment

Judge Gabbett also told her that she needs a letter from the Clerk of the Dáil saying how much she is entitled to in a TD termination payment.

Wynne explained that she had received two termination payments and had paid €5,000 to her former employee Smyth from it. She said she did not have the details of the total sum of her termination payment.

Last August, the WRC ordered Wynne to pay the €11,500 after finding that Smyth was unfairly dismissed.

Wynne received a TD’s annual salary of €113,679 but lost her seat at the last General Election last November. She stood as an independent candidate in Clare after leaving the Sinn Féin party during her first term.

Judge Gabbett adjourned the case to 19 September.

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