FF Senator paid €16,700 in travel expenses while sick at home for eight months
A Fianna Fáil Senator is facing scrutiny for receiving over €16,000 in travel and accommodation expenses while on sick leave for eight months. The Senator maintains that she continued to work from her constituency and hospital, though the payments are now under review.
Why it matters
This raises questions about the transparency and accountability of public expense systems for elected officials during extended absences.
A Fianna Fáil Senator who was paid €16,700 in travel and accommodation expenses while out sick for eight months has said she is discussing the payments with the Oireachtas.
Tipperary -based Imelda Goldsboro, a Taoiseach’s nominee to the Seanad , has been absent since November 2025 and last spoke in the house in October of that year.
The Senator has been treated for a serious illness in that time. Despite her absence from Leinster House, she has continued to be paid the Oireachtas Travel and Accommodation Allowance (TAA) as part of her overall expenses.
Once TAA payments have commenced, they are paid automatically and can only be stopped through written instruction from an Oireachtas member.
Members must record their attendance for at least 120 days annually in Leinster House to retain the full allowance, or face a clawback of 1 per cent for each day under that threshold.
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