Fobgate: Healy Rae lashes out Controversy rolls on as Deputy Michael Healy Rae claims he was in Dublin on June 20 and June 21
KERRY TD Michael Healy Rae has lashed out over his treatment in recent days as questions continue to be asked about his exact whereabouts on June 20 and June 21.
The Kilgarvan Deputy has come in for severe criticism in recent days after Dáil records showed he fobbed into the Dáil on June 21, yet missed an all important speech by Head of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker on the same day to attend a funeral in Kerry.
Information was presented in the press and on social media last week claiming that the TD had ‘skyped’ into Virgin Media’s Tonight show from Kerry on June 20 – the night before the Junker Dáil address – leading to questions about his precise whereabouts that night and the following morning.
On Tuesday it emerged that it is still not known exactly where the Skype call was made.
Deputy Healy-Rae insists it was made in Dublin and blamed the furore on misinformation about the call.
However, questions remain about the call with no evidence released as yet that can definitively prove where the call was made.
“I skyped from Dublin that night and fobbed in the next morning around 7am and headed for Kerry at 8am,” he insisted.
DEPUTY Michael Healy Rae has come out fighting over his role in the so-called ‘fobgate’ controversy this week, forcing one commentator to row back on a claim that it had been known ‘for certain’ the Deputy was not in Dublin when Dáil records showed he was present in the Oireachtas.
Deputy Healy Rae insists he personally fobbed into the Dáil on the morning in question and that the ‘Skype’ interview at the centre of the controversy was conducted in Dublin.
The Kilgarvan TD has lashed out at his treatment in the media this week, pointing to the correction issued by one journalist on the matter.
It was alleged last week that Deputy Healy Rae had ‘ Skyped’ from Kerry to the Tonight Show on June 20. He meanwhile attended a funeral in Sneem on the morning of June 21, leading to questions about how he could possibly also have been fobbed into the Dáil on the same morning.
Deputy Healy Rae insists he conducted the Skype interview from Dublin, and fobbed into the Dáil the following morning - before leaving for the funeral, which he said he had to attend.
In doing so, he missed an all important address by European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker.
However, new information on Tuesday emerged revealing that it is unknown where the Skype call was made from.
Questions remain to be answered on where this call was made from.
TD Michael Healy Rae insisted he was in Dublin and that the Skype call was made from Dublin.
The fact that the TD missed an address by Mr Juncker was also the subject of criticism as Deputy Healy Rae is the Chairman of Committee on European Union Affairs, yet missed out on an all important speech by Mr Juncker the President of the European
Commission.
This week Deputy Healy Rae defended his decision to attend the funeral.
“I make no apology about going to the funeral. If I had speaking time in the Dáil that day it would have been different. It was a correct decision to make,” he said.
He said that as chairperson of the European Oireachtas Committee his work can “stand up to scrutiny”.
“I put monumental effort into my job on the committee and I stand over that.”
To claim expenses every TD must fob into the Dáil for more than 120 days and Mr Healy-Rae was recorded as attending that day, even though he admits it was only for short time.
He says that fobbing in on that day does not mean he gained financially as he already attends more than enough days to get the expenses worth more than €34,000.
“It was immaterial whether or not I fobbed in on that day. I already attend on more than 120 days,” he added.
The Kilgarvan TD then told The Kerryman he was not answering any more questions on the ‘ lies’ about his whereabouts.
He said that ‘untrue’ information was relayed about the Skype call being from Kerry and this is not the case.