*Violet-Anne Wynne (IND).
FORMER Clare TD, Violet Anne Wynne (IND) told a court sitting in Ennis on Friday that she wasn’t able to pay her weekly rent of €300 this week and herself and her family are depending on the goodwill of others.
At Ennis District Court, mother of six, Ms Wynne disclosed that she is living on the “good-will from a lot of people” and “sometimes obviously going to other people who lend money and add on interest”.
Ms Wynne was in court after being asked to substantiate her claim with a statement of means that she currently has no income to pay off a residual €6,500 debt to a former constituency office worker, Fiona Smyth from a €11,500 Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) award made against her.
In court, Judge Alec Gabbett has ordered Ms Wynne to pay off the €6,500 debt by instalments of €50 per week.
In court, solicitor for Ms Smyth, Daragh Hassett cross-examined Ms Wynne in the witness box on her statement on means provided to the court.
After examining the statement of means, Mr Hassett said to Ms Wynne, “It is costing €895 per week for you and your partner to run your household and your weekly income is €500 so you have a net loss of €395. How do you live”.
In response, Ms Wynne said, “Family. Good will from a lot of people who have been very understanding about my partner’s condition and the fact that we are facing very unprecedented circumstances”.
Ms Wynne said that her partner, John Mountaine is self-employed but has been unable to work since mid-May due to suffering epilepsy seizures four times a day.
Ms Wynne said she has received loans from family “and they are of the opinion that I am not able to pay back the money that they have provided to me and family for the likes of shopping, clothes and stuff like that for my children”.
Mr Hassett said, “For example you told us ‘next week, it is going to cost us €895 to keep the ship afloat with only €500 coming in’, so where do you find the money”.
In reply Ms Wynne said, “We don’t. We get it in goodwill from the family or we are not able to make those payments”.
Mr Hassett asked, “Are you paying your rent?”
In reply, Ms Wynne said, “Currently, at the moment, not this week, no. …We are living day by day and week by week”.
Mr Hassett told Judge Gabbett “that there was scant detail” in the information provided “and Ms Wynne’s story doesn’t make any sense” and asked Judge Gabbett to make the appropriate order for the repayment of the debt.
Judge Gabbett told Ms Wynne, “I need you to be more forthcoming. There is a serious deficit of information her. There may be a cogent explanation for some of this but in the absence of paper it is problematic”.
Ms Wynne said, “It is not a case that I have withheld information”.
In reply, Judge Gabbett said, “I don’t want a patchwork quilt of information. I want a full story. I am not fully informed”.
Judge Gabbett said that if the debt is not paid, it is a criminal offence “and that is quite serious for someone like you, a former member of the Dáil”.
Ms Wynne said that with her partner being “severely ill” and having six children to care for “I am unable to work and he is unable to work”.
Asked by Judge Gabbett why does Mr Mountaine not claim disability benefit, Mr Wynne said, “He has no GP at the moment because we went homeless during the election years. That is two years ago and we haven’t been able to get a GP since”.
Ms Wynne said that disability benefit for her partner is something she will look into.
Judge Gabbett also told Ms Wynne that he needs a letter from the Clerk of the Dáil telling about much she is entitled to in a TD termination payment.
He said, “There has to be a paper trail”.
Ms Wynne said, “I got two payments in one lump in a termination payment and I paid €5,000 (to Ms Smyth) from that”.
Asked how much she did receive in her TD termination payment, Ms Wynne said, “I don’t have the details to hand”.
Last August, the WRC ordered Ms Wynne to pay the €11,500 after finding that Ms Smyth was unfairly dismissed by Ms Wynne.
Ms Wynne who received a TD’s annual salary of €113,679 – lost her seat in the November General Election in Clare receiving only 310 first preference votes where she stood as an independent candidate in a vote collapse from her 2020 General Election vote when she topped the poll as a Sinn Féin candidate.
Judge Gabbett adjourned the case to September 19th.
