Fine Gael Senator Eugene Regan has called on the Oireachtas committee investigating the expenses of Senator Ivor Callely and other senators saying the matter should be referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Senator Regan quoted from Section 6 of the Criminal Justice Theft and Fraud Offences Act 2001: ‘A person who dishonestly, with the intention of making a gain for himself or herself or another, or of causing loss to another, by any deception induces another to do or refrain from doing an act, is guilty of an offence’.
Senator Regan said that this provision has been used in a range of cases: for a claim of grants from Údarás na Gaeltachta, or inducing a bookie to accept a late bet.
The CSO, he said, in its 2008 report said that in that year under the heading of ‘Fraud, Deception and False Pretences Offences’, 2627 cases were recorded from which there were 227 convictions.
Earlier this year, he said, it was reported that 1,000 people were being pursued through the Courts for social welfare fraud.
Senator Regan then asked: ‘Do the laws we pass in this House just apply to other people, or do they apply to everyone equally’?
‘Because if the laws we pass apply to everyone equally’, he added, ‘then I'm asking that the Committee investigating the expenses of Senator Callely and other senators be referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions’.
Senator Regan said he believes that this is not simply a breach of the rules of the House, or of members' interests, but is a criminal matter.
While being overruled by the Cathaoirleach, the senator insisted that it was incumbent on the Committee investigating the expenses to refer the matter to the DPP, who is the ‘appropriate authority’ to deal with it.
The Cathaoirleach said that he did not wish anyone to pre-empt the decision of the investigating Committee.
