![](http://media.tribune.ie/site_media/photologue/photos/2009/Feb/28/cache/Pcall-1848_dail_reconve0000_display.jpg)
A MARRIED couple, who are both TDs, have said they will not be paying back an estimated €30,000 claimed in overnight allowances.
Joe Enright and Olwyn Enright released a short statement saying their decision to stop double claiming was made because of the deterioration in the public finances.
The couple, who serve constituencies in Donegal and Laois/Offaly, said they would still both be entitled to claim the overnight allowance.
A statement from the Fine Gael press office said: "When Olwyn and Joe saw the shortfall in the public purse in July of last year, they decided that regardless of the fact that the law allows for TDs to share accommodation and claim expenses, they were going to refuse the payment for one of them for the period from July on.
"They will continue to do so until clearer rules are introduced for TDs who are either married or share accommodation." They declined to answer a number of other questions put to them by the Sunday Tribune.
Concerns had been raised by some TDs that the double-claiming might have compromised Olwyn Enright's position as spokesperson on Social and Family Affairs.
In 2005, the year that Enright and McHugh got married, Olwyn Enright was in the middle of the pack when it came to claiming TD's expenses.
Her expenses claim in 2005 was €46,078 while figures for her husband, who was a senator at the time, are not available.
Ms Enright recently said the state could save money on rent allowances paid to the unemployed because rent levels are coming down.
She clearly did not even know that only a percentage of the rent is paid, and that in any case the state would benefit where applicants had recently taken up accommodation and would possibly have more modest rents. however, where the applicant had rented a flat when rents were higher, did she expect him/her to move to a tiny bedsitter to save the state money and be effectivally penalised for losing their job?
It is ironic that after releasing her views on rent allowances the Sunday Tribune reveals the truth about her double claiming of overnight allowances.
It is simply unacceptable for her to argue that the rules permitted it.
When the rules were drawm up there were no husband and wife TD teams and even if there were, it is unlikely that the rule makers would have considered making a rule specifically saying that couples (married or otherwise) cannot both claim - you assume people have some standards.
Obviously some people don't like Ms Enright and her husband.
The €30,000 overclaimed would pay most of the annual salary of a nurse for example - a better use for the money than in Ms Enright's bank account.