Fianna Fáil Senator Larry Butler has resigned the party whip with immediate effect after it emerged he claimed expenses from a home which was not listed as his primary address.
Mr Butler was asked by the party to clarify his travel allowances in writing following the revelation that he had listed his home as Foxrock in Dublin but had claimed travel and accommodation allowances from an address in Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny.
In a statement issued this evening, Mr Butler said the Co Kilkenny property was his primary address. He also said he had intended to sell his Foxrock home but had been unable to because of the property market crash.
"I am very proud to serve as Senator, having been elected to Seanad Éireann in 2007. At that time, I retired from business and from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Because my family were all reared, I moved, with my wife, to Graiguenamanagh, where I was born," he said.
"If it were not for the slump in the property market, we had intended selling our Foxrock house, which, while serving as a Councillor from 1991 to 2007, I operated from."
Mr Butler said that on sitting days of the Seanad, he stays at the Foxrock property and that "for practical purposes, all postal and other communication is addressed to these premises."
"I acknowledge that in the minds of some that to maintain my Dublin address in respect of my political activities may have given rise to the rumours which have circulated concerning expenses and allowances, but these are ill founded," he added.
Mr Butler said he intended to ask the Seanad Members' Interests Committee to look into the expense claims issue. He said he was confident the seven-member committee, chaired by Cathaoirleach of the Seanad Pat Moylan, would clear his name as quickly as possible.
Last night Taoiseach Brian Cowen set in train a process to exclude Senator Ivor Callely from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party over his expense claims.
Government Chief Whip John Curran said that, at the request of the Taoiseach, he will be bringing a motion to a specially convened Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting next week seeking the removal of the whip from Mr Callely.
The former TD for Dublin North Central claimed more than €81,000 in travel and overnight expenses over two and a half years. Despite Clontarf being listed on the Oireachtas website as his principal address, he told Oireachtas officials in 2007 that the family holiday home in Kilcrohane, west Cork, about 370km from Dublin was his principal residence.
The move to remove the whip from Mr Callely came after the Seanad committee said yesterday it had decided to immediately start an investigation into the expenses and allowance claims made by Mr Callely from August 2007.
The committee examined two complaints received from the public about Mr Callely at its meeting.
A statement issued after the meeting also confirmed that the committee had received a detailed written statement from Mr Callely. Because the Seanad is not sitting next week, the investigation is to begin on June 14th.
