Speaking at the meeting just 24 hours before nominations close for the presidential race, Mr Fraser told unaligned Independent TD Catherine Connolly he established the internal reviews in Spring 2014. Mr Fraser repeatedly used this reason to not clarify the matter further, saying: "I really don't want to talk about this too much". [quote]However, this figure does not include more than seven other areas which relate to presidential spending and are overseen by Government departments, including Foreign Affairs, Defence and other matters. However, they each said there is a genuine need for greater public scrutiny and transparency when it comes to presidential spending. Noting the ongoing and disputed claims the review is politically motivated in order to undermine President Michael D Higgins, Mr Fraser responded dryly: "I thought it wasn't because of that."

Source: Evening echo September 25, 2018 11:36 UTC