from Cannes to Kerry to attend the opening of new offices for the Fexco company in Killorglin. He then travelled from Kerry to Cardiff for the Heineken Cup final, which Munster won, and travelled back to Cannes by government jet. He went from Cannes to London for a Ryder Cup promotional event, before returning to Dublin on 24 May 2006. Expenses for car-hire services provided by a London-based firm to O'Donoghue during four visits to Britain in 2006 and 2007 came to a total of €21,289.57, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act. Documents released to The Irish Times showed that three of the four visits were connected with O'Donoghue's attendance at race meetings in Cheltenham and Ascot. In 2006, when O'Donoghue visited Manchester on official business during St Patrick's week prior to attending Cheltenham, car-hire payments made to Terry Gallagher of Cartel Limousines Ltd came to €7,591.96 for "airport pick-ups". This covered the period 11–13 March. In June 2007, O'Donoghue attended the Royal Ascot race meeting over a four-day period and Gallagher's firm was paid a total of €3,582.22, according to the official receipts. On 21 August 2009, the Irish Independent reported that in January 2006 O'Donoghue spent €472 on a limousine to commute between terminals in London Heathrow Airport despite a free airport service between the terminals existing for passengers. Fine Gael Environment spokesman Phil Hogan further criticised O'Donoghue's expense claims, labelling them as unjustifiable and inexcusable. On 31 August 2009, O'Donoghue's expense claim controversy appeared on the front page of the Irish Independent, revealing how O'Donoghue received €330,000 in allowances and expenses in addition to his basic TD salary. It was further revealed that O'Donoghue flew to and from County Kerry at the expense of the taxpayer 73 times, despite having a full-time car driver to his service. In August 2009, government Minister Dick Roche called upon O'Donoghue to explain his expense claims. These claims were echoed by opposition TDs including Fine Gael politician Leo Varadkar who called for a "full and Public" explanation, requesting an investigation as to whether O'Donoghue's expense claims were standard under Fianna Fáil leadership during his tenure as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism. In August 2009, Independent TD Jackie Healy-Rae requested a public statement from O'Donoghue, reiterating the need for O'Donoghue to defend himself, claiming that "the people want answers". In a letter sent to all members