Prospective Fine Gael presidential candidate Mairead McGuinness claimed hundreds of thousands of euro in MEP expenses for office rent and other costs when using family property in Co Meath as her constituency office.
Ms McGuinness’s expenses claims were within European Parliament rules.
But they are seen by some in Fine Gael circles as a potential point of discomfort in the autumn presidential election campaign because of the prospect of questions being raised on the matter.
In her 16 years as an MEP, she is estimated to have received more than €800,000 in unvouched “general allowance” payments to cover “office rent and management costs” and expenses for phones, computers and other political representation costs.
RM Block
During most of that period, Ms McGuinness located her constituency office in a separate building adjacent to her family home at Mentrim near Navan. Land Registry records show she and her husband, Tom Duff, own the office property.
“The Mentrim constituency office enabled her to serve the constituency, and have an easily accessible office for the regular and out of normal office hours’ work she engaged in every week as an MEP,” said a spokesman for Ms McGuinness.
“The office was advertised to the public as her constituency office. Her financial details as an MEP were published on her website and regularly updated, including those in relation to her constituency office.”
Although the presidential election must be held within 60 days of Michael D Higgins leaving office on November 11th, prospective candidates across the political spectrum have been slow to come forward.
However, Ms McGuinness is widely expected to seek Fine Gael’s candidacy when the party opens nominations on Monday. She has long been considered one of the most likely contenders and has never ruled herself out.
A former journalist, she made her mark in European politics as a member of the parliament’s agriculture and rural development committee.
She became first vice-president of the parliament in 2017 but left in 2020 to become the Republic’s EU commissioner in succession to Phil Hogan after the “Golfgate” affair. Her term as commissioner for financial services ended last year.
According to the European Parliament, the general allowance “is not paid automatically”. MEPs must request payment.
“Members are free to request all or part of the amount of the allowance, and/or to reimburse amounts that have not been used,” the parliament’s rules state.
The monthly payment was set at €3,700 when Ms McGuinness was first elected an MEP in 2004 and had risen to €4,950 when she left in October 2020.
Her website is no longer online, but partial records remain available on archived web pages. She is estimated to have received €222,000 in the 2004-2009 parliamentary term, €255,762 in the 2009-2014 term, €261,192 in 2014-2019 and €79,200 in 2019-2020.
There was no comment from Ms McGuinness on these figures after they were put to her.
However, she said the constituency office was briefly based in Ardee and, after the 2019 European elections, in Kells. Neither the Ardee nor Kells properties were in the ownership of Ms McGuinness or her family.
“Mentrim was the constituency office for most of Mairead McGuinness’s time as an MEP. The general expenditure allowance is a fixed monthly payment made to all MEPs,” the spokesman said.
“In Mairead McGuinness’s case, the allowance was paid monthly into a separate account which she opened in 2004 at the start of her mandate. It was expended in accordance with the rules governing such payments,” he added.
“None of the allowance was used other than for servicing the constituency over the 16 years she served as an MEP. No monies were paid to the MEP or her husband for the use of the building.”
