The two men have been removed from their positions on the party’s frontbench over Mr Collins last week voting six times on behalf of Mr Dooley, who was absent from the House at the time. In a report compiled by the clerk of the Dáil, released on Thursday, Mr Dooley denied asking his colleague to vote for him and Mr Collins denied being asked to cast the votes. Face vs handsVideo footage of the vote in question showed that before Mr Dooley left the chamber, he pointed towards the front row of the seats at which point Mr Collins nodded. “When asked what he meant by pointing at the seats, Deputy Dooley was indicating to Deputy Collins that he would see Deputy Collins when they were voting,” the report states. Mr Collins said he did not know what was meant by the pointing because he was looking at Mr Dooley’s face and not his hands.

Source: The Irish Times October 25, 2019 00:00 UTC