BRIAN COWEN has admitted he can’t sack Ivor Callely from the Seanad – but has appealed to the troubled Senator to consider his position.

Commenting on the Seanad’s decision to suspend Callely for twenty sitting days without pay, the Taoiseach said he noted Callely’s on-the-record assurance that he would repay any expenses to which he wasn’t entitled.

He also said Callely must comply with the recommendations of the Seanad’s Select Committee on Member’s Interests and obligingly serve out his 20-day suspension from the Seanad.

The suspension means Callely stands to lose up to €10,000 in wages and expenses.

The committee’s investigations followed public complaints that Callely had been claiming travel expenses from an address in Cork, despite maintaining a constituency office and public profile in Clontarf.

Callely insisted he was primarily resident at the house in Cork, despite admitting he had been trying to sell it since 2004 and remaining on the electoral register in Clontarf.

The senator has strongly denied the claims and says he will “consider the options available” to clear his name.

Callely resigned his membership of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party last month, after the party’s chief whip proposed to remove it from him.