The head of the ethics committee probing irregular Dáil voting has had to step aside after admitting she voted twice in the chamber a number of times. Fine Gael TD Hildegarde Naughton was forced to recuse herself from the committee on members’ interests, following her admission that she too voted on behalf of another TD as well as herself. Ms Naughton said her actions of pressing voting buttons for Fine Gael colleagues, actually in the Dáil, was different from claims against the four TDs. The Galway West TD said she had left the inquiry after legal advice from the Oireachtas. "The Taoiseach, the leader of the opposition, and many other members of Dáil Eireann have voted for a colleague while asked to do so while that colleague was in the chamber.

Source: Irish Examiner October 31, 2019 05:48 UTC