David Norris (Independent)

A couple of months ago, I was telephoned by a tabloid newspaper and asked how I could justify travelling expenses of €6,000 or so. I told the newspaper that I could not. When I was asked whether I had anything else to say, I stated that I had never claimed a single penny because I walked every day, as I walked today. I have never claimed travelling expenses. It was a daily allowance, but it appeared in a newspaper article under the headline "Politicians with snouts in their trough" alongside my photograph. The one thing that the newspaper did not mention was that my expenses were the second lowest in the entire House.

Let us have a bit of responsible journalism and an historical review. I would like the people to know our attendance levels because we all attend well. I would like them to know my voting record, my attendance at committee meetings, my contributions, the legislation that I have tabled and the hours that I have worked. Let them have the whole damn lot, but I will not have my honour and integrity impugned. If newspapers go on like this, they will drive all the decent people out of politics, leaving only the dross. It will be what they bloody well deserve.