[Tabnabs]

He made a defence of the situation on Newstalk this morning, it sounds like he's also using the Dail printers to add to the bulk?

http://www.newstalk.ie/2012/news/sf-...nt-cartridges/

[Tipp Man]

Daylight robbery is what it is

He needs a good grilling on this

[Chuck Stone]

That's cost the tax payer a fair few squid.

[mike65]

Can any Dublin South Central readers tell of sightings of O'Snodaigh at car boot sales with a box of ink carts

[kippy]

Someone summed it up well in an earlier post.
There is definetly an attitude of: It's not MY money, however I am ALLOWED to claim up to a certain amount, why not claim every penny or spend every penny for that matter.

The worrying thing is this attitude may permeate into the Civil/Public service when it comes to making decisions over certain aspects.

[Sully]

Originally Posted by Curly Judge

I wish to politely object to this being moved to the Cafe.
This is a serious thread on a disgraceful waste of public money and should not be sidelined.

Completely agree tbh. Its not a chit-chat, its about how one TD is ripping into the tax payer fund on crazy spending for his anti-everything leaflets and letters that seem to be going out on an alarming level. But best take it to PM rather than derail the thread any further me thinks.

Here is the article in the Indo. Don't think it appears in the printed edition.

SINN FEIN TD Aengus O Snodaigh today admitted taking computer print cartridges to the value of €50,000 over two years, but said that he had done nothing wrong.

The Dublin South Central representative said that the cartridges, from the Dail stationery stores, had been used in his constituency office for constituency material.

The Irish Daily Mail reports today that Mr O Snodaigh took three toner packs – valued at an average of €130 – each day the Dail sat in 2007. The total value was €25,969.

In 2008 he took 219 print cartridges valued at €24,701 bringing the two year total value to €50,671.

It was enough to print 1,760 letters a day or a total of 3.25m single page letters – more than 337 letters to each of the 4,825 people who gave him their first preference votes in the 2007 General Election, the newspaper says.

Speaking on Morning Ireland Mr O Snodaigh denied that he was printing election material, which is against the rules. He said the ink was for material for his constituents who received regular correspondence from his office.

Up to 2009 print toner kits were available in unlimited quantities and free of charge to TDs. The rules changed at the end of that year and were further modified in 2010.

TDs are now limited to cartridges up to the value of €2,000 per year and Senators are limited to €1,300. They must reimburse the State for any usage above these limits.

Source: http://www.independent.ie/national-n...k-3033049.html

[ayeboy]

Originally Posted by Curly Judge

I wish to politely object to this being moved to the Cafe.
This is a serious thread on a disgraceful waste of public money and should not be sidelined.

I totally agree. The moderator thinks this isnt a big deal?? Its day light robbery and O'Snodaigh deserves the sack.

[Paparazzo]

I moved to Dublin South Central a few years ago and was looking up the TD's to find out who's there. Anyway, from Aengus's wiki page:

In October 2002, five men in Snodaigh's constituency were arrested after discovery of a van in County Wicklow containing a sledgehammer, a black balaclava, a pickaxe handle, two-way radios, and a fluorescent jacket with the word "Garda" on it, along with election posters reading 'Sinn Féin No 1 Aengus Ó Snodaigh'. In a nearby Nissan Almera (with false numberplates) they found a blue flashing beacon, a stun gun, a canister of CS gas and a roll of masking tape.

Funny enough, that bit was edited out around election time. Good to see it back in!

[Pompey Magnus]

Originally Posted by ayeboy

I totally agree. The moderator thinks this isnt a big deal?? Its day light robbery and O'Snodaigh deserves the sack.

You do realise last year he still claimed less than the average amount in expenses claimed by TD's, so chances are if he was replaced it would mean someone who has even higher expenses would replace him.

And how exactly would you sack someone who did not act illegally and spent within his allocated budget?

[kippy]

Originally Posted by Pompey Magnus

You do realise last year he still claimed less than the average amount in expenses claimed by TD's, so chances are if he was replaced it would mean someone who has even higher expenses would replace him.

And how exactly would you sack someone who did not act illegally and spent within his allocated budget?

This is the crux of the issues we have in this country.
Legally he appears to have been well within his rights but morally and ethicilly he wasn't. Especially in times of "austerity"
He's not the only one who acts in this manner. It has been commonplace for years in this country that a percentage of every professions has acted in this manner and gotten away with it.
The only way to ensure it doesnt happen is to set and actively enforce strict rules on what people can and cannot do. Yeah, the rules are changing but its taking time.
You only have to look at how we have treated people like Aherne, O Donohoue, Callelly and many more to see the good, law abiding, tax paying citizen has been walked all over by the political class.

[scholar007]

What happened to all the empty cartridges? Who recycled them or were they dumped?

[SEPT 23 1989]

Thats more than a small print company would use in a year

[Pompey Magnus]

Originally Posted by jmayo

How much did callely run up on dodgy invoices for mobile phones ?

Is there evidence suggesting O Snodaigh was doing anything underhanded when claiming for these expenses?

[scholar007]

Originally Posted by scholar007

What happened to all the empty cartridges? Who recycled them or were they dumped?

Maybe they were "disappeared"!

[Bits_n_Bobs]

Seemingly it was for "literature". That's grand so, as long as it was not for "propaganda".