Payments in excess of €6,000 for travel and accommodation claimed over three-month period
Mr Ó Donnghaile also continued to be paid an allowance for being Sinn Féin’s leader in the Seanad after he was suspended by the party for sending inappropriate text messages to a teenager.
The Belfast-based senator announced this week that he was the Sinn Féin member who the Irish Independent revealed was forced to resign due to the controversy over text messages.
Houses of the Oireachtas records show the last day Mr Ó Donnghaile clocked into Leinster House was September 13, 2023.
This was the same day he was suspended by Sinn Féin for sending inappropriate messages to a teenager and another adult.
However, Oireachtas documentation shows he continued to be paid €2,125 a month in travel and accommodation expenses for the next three months until it was officially announced he would be resigning as a senator on December 21, 2023.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has been criticised for offering ‘glowing’ praise when Mr Ó Donnghaile stepped down. Photo: Frank McGrath
Meanwhile, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and social services in Northern Ireland investigated the details of the complaint made about Mr Ó Donnghaile after Sinn Féin contacted them.
There was no finding of illegality and no criminal charges were pursued by the PSNI, which said the teenager who received the unwanted texts did not want to make a formal complaint.
However, Sinn Féin called Mr Ó Donnghaile to a meeting on October 5, 2023 and told him his actions were “not acceptable”.
At the meeting, Mr Ó Donnghaile said he would resign from the party and the Seanad.
Oireachtas records show no money was repaid to the State
In the months that followed, the former senator continued to receive travel and accommodation expense for traveling from Belfast to Dublin.
In addition to his €79,614 senator’s salary, Mr Ó Donnghaile received €25,515 in expenses last year.
Senators are required to clock into Leinster House on 120 days to receive their full expenses. Mr Ó Donnghaile only clocked in 80 times, but may have been able to reclaim the additional days if he produced sick certificates.
Oireachtas records show no money was repaid to the State.
Aside from the expenses, in the weeks that followed his resignation, Mr Ó Donnghaile also continued to receive the Sinn Féin leader allowance, which is €6,875 a year.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has criticised Sinn Féin over the way Mr Ó Donnghaile’s resignation was handled. Photo: Gerry Mooney
A Sinn Féin spokesperson said: “He was absent on certified extended sick leave and his Seanad status remained unchanged.”
Mr Ó Donnghaile did not respond to a request for comment.
Despite being forced to resign due to sending inappropriate messages to a teenager, the long-time Sinn Féin member received what was described as “glowing” praise from party leader Mary Lou McDonald when he stepped down.
The statement wished him the “very best” and praised him for his work while serving as an elected representative.
The Sinn Féin leader has been accused by Tánaiste Micheál Martin, along with government and opposition TDs, of seeking to cover up the reasons behind Mr Ó Donnghaile’s sudden decision to resign.
