The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has said he had nothing to do with the money spent on his office when he was a Junior Minister or the type of toilet paper that was ordered.
The Committee is questioning the Office of Public Works (OPW) on the €250,000 spent on the office of John McGuinness in 2007.
It has heard an e-mail was sent from his office requesting the use of degradable toilet paper like Kittensoft, Andrex or Inversoft only. But Mr. McGuinness says the e-mail was not reflecting his request for a specific toilet roll.
The spending watchdog committee found itself in the awkward position of having to get its Chair to vacate his seat temporarily this morning so they could question the money spent on building his office when he was a Junior Minister in 2007.
The OPW has confirmed that €206,000 was spent on the new office which rises to €250,000 including VAT.
The nearest comparison at the time was the Office of the Minister for Health in Hawkins House on which €70,000 was spent.
The Committee has also heard that an e-mail was sent from the then Junior Minister's office requesting the use of specific, degradable toilet paper instead of the usual paper used across the civil service.
Labour TD Gerald Nash told the Committee that if someone in that suite of offices wanted special toilet roll they should have bought it themselves.
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Deputy McGuinness said he had no involvement in the plans for the office and the amount spent was as much of surprise to him as anyone else.
He also took the opportunity to defend himself on the controversial toilet paper.
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