Fianna Fáil must come clean on voting scandal – Heydon

It is time for Fianna Fáil to openly admit everything they know about their voting scandal as the drip feed of information into the public continues, Fine Gael party chairman Martin Heydon has said.

Deputy Heydon, a Kildare South TD, said Micheál Martin must take a consistent approach with his party colleagues on this affair.

“Everything is being forced out of Fianna Fáil by journalists – even after they mislead reporters as Lisa Chambers did with RTÉ’s This Week on Sunday.

“Deputy Chambers knew last Thursday she voted for her party colleague, Dara Calleary. Instead of admitting she cast two votes in the Dáil chamber, as the controversy raged on Saturday she did nothing.

“She went on This Week on Sunday and flatly denied that she had ever voted for anyone else. It took a journalist with the evidence contacting her before she alerted the Ceann Comhairle in a desperate bid on a Sunday night to correct the record four days later. Her party leader, Micheál Martin was only informed on Sunday too of this development.

“And today, we learn on Morning Ireland that she told FF Deputy leader, Dara Calleary last Thursday what occurred but neither took any action on it. The way this story is escalating beggar’s belief,” Deputy Heydon said.

“Deputies Dooley and Collins have been effectively sacked because of their actions yet Micheál Martin wants us to believe Deputy Chambers’ account and take no action. Are double standards at play? Only Micheál Martin can explain.

“It is time for full accountability and transparency from Fianna Fáil on this as the list of questions continues to grow. Perhaps they might offer up answers now instead of trying to wriggle their way out of it.

“If reckless Fianna Fáil can’t be trusted to cast democratic votes in opposition, can you imagine what they would do in Government?”

The unanswered questions are:

1. Deputy Lisa Chambers has today (Monday) told RTÉ she alerted FF deputy leader Dara Calleary to her double voting last Thursday. It was only when contacted by a journalist and shown the evidence that Lisa Chambers alerted the Ceann Comhairle to her double voting and admitted it. Why did she lie to the Irish public on RTÉ’s This Week on Sunday when asked had she ever done this?
2. Deputy Chambers has been a TD for more than three years – does she not understand the significance and utmost importance of having an accurate Dáil record? Her explanation as to why she did not alert a Teller about her erroneous vote would suggest not.
3. Deputy Chambers said on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland today she does not think she has cast a vote in someone else’s name before – how can the public have confidence in that when she failed to disclose this incident until forced to?
4. Why didn’t Deputy Calleary ask for the record to be corrected when Deputy Chambers alerted him on Thursday? Surely, he is concerned about fraudulent votes being cast in his name?
5. Why didn’t Deputy Calleary point this voting error out on Morning Ireland on Sunday morning while he was on air?
6. Why was Micheál Martin only told about Deputy Chambers casting a vote in Deputy Calleary’s name on Sunday?
7. When did Deputy Dooley realise Deputy Collins voted for him?
8. Why did Deputy Dooley and Deputy Collins not give their explanation to journalists when queried about it on Friday night?
9. Did Deputy Dooley’s phone call last for the duration of the voting block?
10. If not, why did Deputy Dooley not return to the Chamber for the votes?
11. Why did Deputy Collins take Barry Cowen’s assigned seat (beside Timmy Dooley’s) and not his own assigned seat if he was not instructed to vote for Timmy Dooley?
12. Why did Deputy Cowen allow Deputy Collins sit in his seat and vote for an absent colleague?
13. After voting for Timmy Dooley in six votes for more than 35 minutes, why did Deputy Collins not vote for Timmy Dooley on the last two votes?
14. How often does Deputy Collins vote for TDs who are not present in the Chamber?
15. How often does Deputy Dooley allow other TDs to vote for him?
16. Has Deputy Dooley asked other TDs to vote for him in marginal votes?
17. Does Deputy Dooley need to correct the record for other votes in the past?
18. Have Deputy Dooley and Deputy Collins been reprimanded for this kind of behaviour before?
19. On the Dáil video, there is clear communication between Deputy Dooley and Deputy Collins before Deputy Dooley walked out of the chamber. What was said between the two FF frontbench TDs?
20. On the same video, Willie O’Dea can be seen talking to Deputy Collins before Timmy Dooley approached them. Can Deputy O’Dea shed any light on the matter?
21. Is Micheál Martin confident that this practice isn’t widespread in his Party?