TWO WEST Limerick TDs claimed accumulated Dail expenses of almost euro 140,000 last year, according to latest figures obtained by the Sunday Independent under the Freedom of Information Act.
They were Fianna Fail’s John Cregan, and Fine Gael’s Dan Neville, both of whom figured in the top 10 claimants.
Attempts by the Limerick Post to contact both were unsuccessful.
A county councillor has, meanwhile, defended his party colleague, Dan Neville TD, stating that he is confident that any expense claims made by the deputy were within guidelines.
Councillor Jerome Scanlan made his comments following a report which named the Fine Gael deputy in the list of the top 10 highest claimants, who between them clocked up expenses of 727,382 euro last year.
The report claims that deputy Neville submitted expenses amounting to 69,203 euro.
It was claimed that the TD clocked up more than 200 euro for taxis during a trip to Glasgow and 800 euro during a four day trip to Prague, with 342 euro spent on a trip to the UK.
Councillor Scanlan stated that deputy Neville was “an exceptionally hardworking TD, and I am 100 per cent confident that any claims he has made were no more than he was entitled to”.
The expenses of the deputy’s fellow Limerick West TD, Fianna Fail’s, John Cregan, amounted to 69,412 euro.
Among the other highest claimants named were Clare TD Pat Breen, who received the highest overall amount in expenses at 81,379 euro, and Tipperary South’s Tom Hayes TD who received 71,151 euro.
Deputy Breen’s total included 20,000 euro for foreign travel. He is a member of the Council of Europe.
