Madigan and her expenses

Bobtheman

The ditch has published allegations that she has fiddled her expenses.

She has indicated that she is not running again and resigned as Junior minister.

Are the events linked?

Would she still face an investigation?

Standards in public office. Will this body investigate?

Jim_Hodge

No idea.

I don't know.

Not a clue.

What do you think yourself?

Cluedo Monopoly

FG have made sure that SIPO have no powers. Paschal said he would fix this when he was found to be fiddling but he never bothered. They are all at it. Dara Murphy (FG) showed them how.

JP Liz V1

Did Dara Murphy ever pay back?

If FF are brown envelope brigade, what are FG, over expenses brigade?

L1011

The amount The Ditch are claiming might be dodgy - and they have no evidence they are - wouldn't make a councillor resign let alone a Minister

She wanted Europe and didn't get selected, that's going to be a major element of why she's going

ToweringPerformance

Is there a politician who doesn't fiddle their expenses? They are all pigs at the trough.

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121931827#Comment_121931827

Nope. Leo asked him to and he ignored Leo. Great message to the others. Pure theft.

ULEZ23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121931905#Comment_121931905

Exactly they are all at it, wasn’t one of sinn Féin’s most senior members caught claiming for €50k in printer ink!

EchoIndia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121931905#Comment_121931905

There are much easier ways to make money than being a politician.

howiya

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058343168/madigan-and-her-expenses

The events are not linked despite what the ditch may claim.

She is one of three government TDs in a three seat constituency. It'll be a four seater next time round but I'd imagine she saw the writing on the wall.

Had a crack at Europe and didn't win the party nomination.

I'd imagine Harris had an eye on her junior minister role to promote someone and gave her the chance to resign rather than dump her.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121931905#Comment_121931905

Yes there are plenty, in fact the vast majority of them claim only that to which they are entitled.

Why are you making them all out to be chancers ?

walshb

If it transpires that she fiddled expenses it really doesn’t get any lower…

JVince

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121931918#Comment_121931918

At the same time you could get "cheap printer ink" in the Dublin 12 area.

eightieschewbaccy

Pretty sure two thousand kilometers of diesel or unleaded isn't gonna amount to lucrative values. This is the ditch trying to be a part of a story.

CatFromHue

The Ditch are great at exposing that Irish politics doesn't have a corruption problem.

If this is as bad as it gets we're OK.

SuperBowserWorld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121931921#Comment_121931921

Yes, but as a politician in government you have the power to irrevocably change the destination of a country and do untold damage.

You are supposed to be a leader who sets an example for others to follow.

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058343168/madigan-and-her-expenses

The Ditch also posted a TD didn't have car tax. 😂

Really do you care about the Ditch, the most biased media outlet in Ireland.

You would be better off picking something which is a little less biased if you want to read politics

lawred2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121932169#Comment_121932169

Ah it does

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121933076#Comment_121933076

Yes, I know. It’s just the sickening greed and entitlement. Really is an awful trait.

BrianD3

Always amazes me how posters on here try to minimise, downplay and deflect anytime The Ditch runs a politician expenses story. Do people not want transparency in how public money is spent? Is it a case of "shur I'd do that meself if I could get away with it"?

Madigan's expenses are either correct or they aren't, if they are correct she may have been defamed but there absolutely needs to be evidence that they are correct. It's basic accounting.

I've worked in public sector organisations and expense claims had to be accompanied with information on the purpose of the journey, destination, date and time. Managers authorise travel in advance and then approve claims when they come in. Expenses are Per Diem so if you attend a conference that meets the criteria for an overnight allowance and you sleep in your car instead of staying in the hotel, that's your choice.

Do Ministers just submit a claim without anything to back it up "my travel for this month is 2000 km" and then when questioned for details "I didn't record that/I forget". Completely unacceptable if so.

Even with information recorded, expenses are still open to abuse as we've seen from several RTE Investigates programmes digging around County Councillors expenses where they appear to have been able to attend events in different areas of the country at the same time.

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121932169#Comment_121932169

Really?

As I posted once they become a TD they can hire staff, the big issue with this before was hiring family members. THe healy Rae clan are famous for this with every aunt/uncle/cousin etc all on pay roll of government. Well it would seem so

In the case of Madigan do you really think she sits down at the end of day and does her expenses or her admin staff?

For all the hype from The Ditch, who are aware of this I bet, they are getting some lowly admin person in trouble

Well done The Ditch and Paddy Cosgrove, they really are leading the push in Irish politics 😂

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/salaries-and-allowances/scheme-for-secretarial-assistance/

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121931808#Comment_121931808

Well Jim,I like your comments.Beam over to The Ditch for more info,I think

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121933093#Comment_121933093

It's taxpayers money so why bother being thorough in tracking it all. Shur the lads might need the extra cash and all.

eightieschewbaccy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121933093#Comment_121933093

Things is, the OP is trying to link this to her resignation. Firstly it's not remotely clear that she actually did something untoward and secondly, this wouldn't rank as a resignation matter. You'd need a proper pattern of such behaviour or a far larger sum.

beachhead

The days when expenses were tax free and high limits.Bliss

Bobtheman

In the greater scheme of things it's not a huge sum of money.

Is it a resigning issue? Possibly. Politics doesn't operate by normal rules.

The special education act was passed in 2004. SENCO.

20 years later important parts of it have not been implemented. Enacted.

Ie right of appeal for parents

Thus autistic children are often left at home or sent to an unsuitable school.

This seemingly is not a resigning matter

But I remember a FF TD getting the sack for getting a free paint job from a painters company employed by the HSE.

Ivor calley I think.

He went on to greater expenses...

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121932403#Comment_121932403

If I submitted 2k of false Miles I would be deemed untrusted in my profession and the appropriate warning leading up to sacking would be expected

It's a really bad thing to do and obviously that's not cascaded down to the tds and senators

It means you're a lying deceitful untrustworthy idiot

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121933312#Comment_121933312

The issue is that The Ditch have no proof they're false

eightieschewbaccy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121933312#Comment_121933312

I haven't seen proof they were false though. It's a very vague allegation. And I really don't like her, glad to see her gone.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121933051#Comment_121933051

Which is a joke like sorry? Our elected representatives are supposed to be an example.

the ditch is a stupid outlet by all accounts but things like TD’s not paying car tax and overinflated expenses shouldn’t be brushed under the rug.

Padraig Mor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121933242#Comment_121933242

No pattern of behaviour? According to the Ditch she's been submitting apparently dodgy expenses claims every August (when she's had little/no official business) for several years. Looks like a pattern to me.

Not just Madigan either - they've also published similar stories re a number of other politicians (i.e. claiming expenses when they're off on their hollibobs in August).