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Former Fianna Fail TD, Ned O’Keefe, (right), with his solicitor Frank Butttimer, leaving Cork District Court earlier this week, after receiving a seven month sentence for fraud. Photo: Michael Mac Sweeney/Cork Courts

Retired TD and former Minister of State Ned O'Keeffe, following his court appearance on Tuesday, issued an unreserved apology to his family, friends and former constituents for what he described to be his failure to maintain 'the highest standards regarding expense claims made by him for mobile phone kits during his period as a public representative.

O’Keeffe was fined €3,500 and given a suspended seven month jail sentence after he pleaded guilty to five counts of submitting false invoices to claim over €3,737.50 in mobile phone expenses between July 2002 and September 2009, while he was a TD for Cork East.

When asked in court why he had made such claims without the proper paperwork, O’Keeffe’s solicitor said that it was down to ‘inattentiveness and sloppiness’ and stressed that the level of criminality involved was at ‘an extremely low level’.

VOLUNTARILY

In a statement to The Avondhu, Mr O'Keeffe said: "I presented myself voluntarily today to An Garda Siochana at Togher Garda Station, Cork and subsequently appeared at the District Court.

"On 27th April 2012, I was interviewed by the Gardai regarding expense claims made by me for mobile phone kits during my period as a public representative. I co-operated fully and assisted the Gardai with their enquiries.

"As a result of their enquiries, An Garda Siochana made a decision to charge me on certain issues arising out of those claims. I have today pleaded at the earliest opportunity to these charges before the Court."

He goes on to state that since the initial contact with An Garda Siochana in April 2012, he has dealt with the matter in 'an honest and forthright manner and co-operated fully with An Garda Siochana'.

"During my period as a public representative, I believe I did at all times carry out my duties with honesty and integrity on behalf of my constituents.

"Unfortunately, my failure to keep and maintain detailed records of all my expense claims has given rise to my inability to assist the authorities in clarifying their queries in the fullest manner on each of the claims referred to in today's charges. I decided to deal with these matters in a frank and forthright manner at the earliest date to avoid further costs to the State."

APOLOGY

Concluding, he said: "I would like to issue an unreserved apology to my family, friends and former constituents for my failure to maintain the highest standards in this matter. I hope that the conclusion of the case today brings this matter to a close for my family and I."

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