Curiously and, to my knowledge, unusually, the individual involved is not named in the report.

There was, for example, no problem naming former Fianna Fail TD, Ned O’Keeffe when he was arrested and questioned in relation to similar allegations.

In his case there is also a file being forwarded to the DPP.

I rang the Garda Station in Bandon where the councillor was questioned but they declined to name him.

I rang the Garda HQ Press Office and, predictably, was fed a wagonload of pure waffle.

The DPPs office was similarly unhelpful.

Recently, however, an interesting message came to my ear concerning a particular councillor, which may be connected to the case – time will tell.

It’s noteworthy that the arrest followed a complaint by a concerned citizen who became suspicious of the councillor’s activities.

Cleary, Irish citizens are waking up to the damage done to the country by wayward politicians.

But what went on in Wicklow County Council last July is very, very odd, even by Irish standards (Irish Times).

Last July Wicklow County Councillors voted to approve management plans to complete the purchase of a three acre site after they had been told a compulsory purchase order had been initiated in 2006.

Apparently, none of the Councillors thought it odd that a five-year-old compulsory order, initiated at the height of the property boom, was now being activated.

They may have been convinced by two assurances from management.

That an original valuation of €5.2 million had been reduced to €3 million after talks with representatives of the owner and occupier. Surely, a not to be missed bargain?

That the money would be recouped from the Department, as the land was earmarked for housing. In other words Wicklow County Council would be enriched at the expense of all other taxpayers.

And then some truth emerged; the land is actually worth no more than €400,000.

So, on first glance, it seems that somebody was trying to pull a fast one on the councillors – but who?

Was it somebody in Wicklow County Council management, was it somebody in the Department of the Environment, was it the owner of the property – was it a combination of all three?

The Attorney General has engaged a senior counsel to investigate the Department’s role in the whole matter so we should soon know exactly what happened.

Ah no, I’m only joking. Senior counsel has been appointed but we’ll never know what happened.

The matter will be dragged out in the traditional manner until it becomes just another giant impenetrable smudge on the by now very ragged taxpayer’s current account book.

We didn’t’ have assistance from any government of any sort or any society. We had to mullock all our lives to put the price of it together and now they’re trying to get more off us.

Well the first fellow that that will come and try to mullock me will end up inside in a coffin and I mean that.

I don’t care if I have to stay in jail for the rest of my life, he’ll get it.

My mother before us, when fellows tried to bully her, she blew the gun over his head and that was the last she saw of him.

Pat Kenny:

Dear o dear, passions running very high.

When I read the particular Editorial referred to by the letter writer I came to the same conclusion.

The Editorial, and a number of other editorials on the same matter, reflect a deep and damaging ultra conservatism in the Irish media.

Sir,

Your Editorial on property tax is sheer nonsense. “We are living beyond our means”, it begins. Yes we are.

But the problem is not a lack of property tax: as anyone who has paid stamp duty knows,

Irish home-owners have been royally fleeced in recent years.

The reason is that as the Local Government Efficiency Review Group has identified, at a very minimum €511 million is being wasted on excessive layers of local government and hierarchy, waste which that report – commissioned by government – recommended be ended.

You could have used your Editorial to urge government to eliminate waste in local government.

And to curb eye-wateringly generous pay and pensions conditions enjoyed by the large number of the 32,000 local government employees whose role is administrative and unconnected with the provision of any real services to the public.

Instead you observe “Nobody likes to pay tax” before describing the “contempt for civic morality” of those opposed to the tax.

Can I suggest that the real “contempt for civic morality” is amongst those who expect hard- pressed homeowners to suffer more taxation to fund the egregious waste of public money.

Yours, etc,
Marc Coleman

To Whom It May Concern:

It is reported in today’s Irish Independent that Fine Gael considers the controversy surrounding Cllr. Kennedy’s expenses to be an internal matter. Is this correct?

Yours etc.
Anthony Sheridan

Dear Anthony

You are incorrect. This is very much a public matter, but as it is the subject on an internal investigation, I am precluded from comment.

Regards,

Vincent Gribbin
Head of Internal Communication
Fine Gael Headquarters
51 Uppr Mount St, Dublin 2

Damn, foiled again by the ‘I am precluded from comment until the investigation is complete excuse’.

The report from Limerick City Council makes clear that it was forwarded to the Standards in Public Office for their information.

But, just in case, I rang SIPO to inquire whether they intended taking any further action.

Yes, I know, a waste of a phone call.

SIPO will be filing the report, probably under – The ones that got away.

Cllr. Kennedy outlined the matter pretty much as it appeared in media reports.

His principal point was that he had made an honest and genuine mistake which, when it was brought to his attention, he immediately refunded the payments.

Limerick City Council, after considering Cllr. Kennedy’s excuse, decided that he was telling the truth.

The Council summed up as follows:

The matter highlights the importance of ensuring that claim forms are properly and accurately completed before being submitted for payment.

Having regard to this and the requirement for openness and transparency in the public service, the undersigned have decided to refer a copy of this report to the Standards in Public Office Commission for their information.

It would, of course, have been astonishing if the outcome had been any different.

I considered submitting the complaint to SIPO but it’s an absolute certainty that the outcome would be the same – and Christmas is nearly upon us.

I’m told I’ll have the report by Friday or early next week.

In the meantime it seems that Cllr. Kennedy can’t stop paying back money to all and sundry.

A report in yesterday’s Irish Independent tells us the Cllr has refunded a further €2,600 to two national bodies from which he claimed mileage expenses.

This is in addition to the €1,700 he refunded 18 months ago for travel expenses that he wasn’t entitled to.

I spoke with a very nice lady who apologised because she thought the report had already been posted.

Said she would deal with the matter immediately.