DUBLIN, Ireland: Catherine Connolly has confirmed that she used part of her Parliamentary Activities Allowance (PAA) to pay for her 2018 trip to Syria.
Responding to criticism that she had made it seem like she paid for the trip with her own money, the presidential candidate said, "I never gave that impression. The allowance is given to every independent TD. There are several categories it can be used for, and I usually spend it on policy and research — that's exactly what I did."
Connolly told reporters that "the average person" would understand what she meant because "they know me well." She added, "I leave it up to the people."
The PAA is an allowance given to party leaders and independent TDs to cover costs related to their parliamentary work, such as research. Connolly is reported to have spent almost 3,700 euros from the allowance on the Syria trip.
The Galway TD travelled to Syria — which was still under Bashar al-Assad's rule at the time — with former Members of the European Parliament Clare Daly and Mick Wallace.
Earlier in the day, her political opponent Heather Humphreys criticized the trip, saying, "I don't know what facts she needed to find, because everyone knows that Assad was a brutal dictator."
