A FG TD who appointed his wife to a €38,000 euro job in his constituency office says she was only filling in on a temporary basis.
Deputy John Perry has now appointed a party worker who previously worked with him while he was Minister of state to the role of Parliamentary Assistant.
Deputy Perry was widely criticised for giving his wife the job, a role funded by the taxpapyer.
In a statement he said "After the reallocation of Minister of State positions in July 2014, my then Parliamentary Assistant of 7 years decided to pursue a new career direction.
For the six month period to December 2014, Maria Perry filled the position of Parliamentary Assistant on a purely voluntary basis. There was no cost or charge to the State for the work she carried out during that period. Having been an integral part of my political career for the past 18 years, Maria was eminently qualified to fulfil the position of Parliamentary Assistant."
Last night the Taoiseach described the decision to appoint his wife as unwise.
Mr Perry pointed out that his wife was took up the Parliamentary assistant job in January to bridge the gap until his preferred candidate became available.
"In light of the growing work load in my office from January 2015 and the volume of work she was doing, I decided to appoint her to the Parliamentary Assistant position to bridge the gap until my preferred candidate for the position became available.
Thomas Walsh, who previously worked with me in my role as Minister of State will be taking up the position of Parliamentary Assistant in mid-April. Thomas has worked one day a week in my office for the past month, at my own expense."
