of the Dáil on 11 September 2009, O'Donoghue defended his record as a Minister and as Ceann Comhairle. He said he had stayed silent so far on the issue in order to protect the impartiality of his current position. He acknowledged that some of the costs incurred appeared high, and regretted that they occurred. He also pointed out that a minister would not be informed of the details of such expenditure and he said he would work to ensure such costs are reduced to the minimum in the future. Despite the extravagance of the reported expense claims and his delay in addressing the controversy, O'Donoghue maintained that he acted in "good faith". O'Donoghue refused to comment on newspaper articles that revealed indulgent expenditure. In response to O'Donoghue's letter, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny called on O'Donoghue to issue a public apology to the Irish public for the expenses incurred, claiming that the O'Donoghue's response "did not go far enough". Fianna Fáil TD Mattie McGrath speaking on Today FM compared O'Donoghue's actions to that of a 'latter day prince'. In an interview on the RTÉ News: Six One on 14 September 2009, Róisín Shortall of the Labour Party claimed that O'Donoghue had underestimated the public's anger against what she called his "junketeering". She questioned the nature of O'Donoghue's statement that failed to address the public, maintaining that it "would be very very" difficult for him to hold his position of Ceann Comhairle. On 3 October 2009, some hours after the information had been provided to an Irish newspaper under an FOI request, O'Donoghue's expenses record was released by his office. €45,000 had been spent on internal flights, while a reported €5,000 was claimed for VIP lounge access. Further spending included presents for dignitaries and flights for his wife. Coincidentally, two of O'Donoghue's trips to Paris took place at the same time as the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. On 4 October 2009, the full extent of O'Donoghue's trips to Paris were revealed by several national newspapers. It was reported that in 2007, Mr O'Donoghue spent two days at the races while his meeting with the French National Assembly only took place while travelling between his hotel and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. Further spending which was branded as lavish included €1,543 spent on transport over a three-day period and hotel costs in excess of €500 per night. It was widely reported that