SENATOR IVOR CALLELY is to be suspended without pay for 20 working days following a decision by the Seanad Members’ Interests Committee.

The Committee had been investigating expenses claims by Callely which amounted to €80,000.

Callely misrepresented the location of his principle residence, RTÉ reports.

The senator works in Dublin but also has a home in Cork. He said the expenses he claimed were justified because his Cork home was his principle residence.

However, the Committee questioned why Callely did not register his Dublin home as his principal residence, as his family lived there and he worked in the city.

In his second attendance with the Committe, Callely also revealed that despite claiming that the Cork home was his principal residence, he did not actually own it.

Meanwhile, documents show that the family home in Clontarf, Co Dublin, is the joint ownership of him and his wife.

The Seanad Members’ Interests Committee recommended that the senator be suspended without pay for 20 days – the harshest ruling that the Seanad is able to give.

Given that a recess will be included during the time of his suspension , Callely will be out of work for about seven weeks in total.