Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn has dismissed controversy surrounding a reported request for a €1,000 Lay-Z-Boy recliner in his Leinster House office, calling the media coverage “peculiar” and suggesting it was a “slow news day.”
In a phone interview with Gript, the Cork North Central TD said the chair in question was never described by him as a Lay-Z-Boy brand and that he simply used the term colloquially to refer to a recliner.
“It must have been a slow news day,” O’Flynn said.
“I think there were far more shocking things that could have been asked about, rather than a Lay-Z-Boy in the office.”
O’Flynn stated that when he was finally assigned an office, eight weeks after his election, the room was in poor condition.
“I arrived into a room where there was a desk and no chairs, and paint tins on the floor, and somebody’s old memorabilia and files and things like that,” he said.
“I emailed facilities and said, you know, it wasn’t acceptable – a bit of broken blind [was there] as well, and a draft coming through the windows.”
He added that the office fit-out process has been slow and disorganised, with long delays in basic equipment and service provision.
“I was six weeks waiting for a computer,” he said.
“Still, I only have one printer. The other printers haven’t been set up. I was six months waiting for an internet connection for my constituency office in Cork…I was six months waiting for an electronic database to be activated.”
The TD said that after being asked to provide a list of office requirements, he simply requested items in line with what he observed in other TDs’ offices.
“Looking at the offices in LH2000, which is occupied by the Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael TDs mostly, and Senators, I provided the list that everyone else had,” he said.
“So I don’t know if they’re called Lay-Z-Boys, but I always refer to a recliner as a Lay-Z-Boy – I didn’t realise it was a brand. But that’s the only thing I can think about.”
O’Flynn also denied requesting any item based on price.
“It refers to a thousand euro chair,” he said, referring to an article in the media.
“Not in any of the emails have I referred to the price of a chair or asked the Oireachtas to purchase a chair for me. As I understand, these chairs have been around for well over 15 years around the Houses of the Oireachtas, and they have a stock of furniture.”
Media reports yesterday claimed that O’Flynn asked for a Lay-Z-Boy recliner to be used for “breaks and informal meetings” in his office and included the item on a list of ten requested furnishings. According the Irish Examiner, Oireachtas officials responded by saying they had no recliners in stock and that such items were not “commonly purchased.”
The report also noted that O’Flynn had previously clashed with Oireachtas management over the length of time it took to get his office properly furnished, accusing them in January of a “disregard for the dignity” of his office.
A number of other TDs and Senators were also reported to have made specific office requests, including Sinn Féin’s Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin, who asked for turquoise paint and a yellow accent strip, and Fianna Fáil’s Erin McGreehan, who requested a full-length mirror. Other requests ranged from fans and desk lamps to tabletop fridges and the taping of drafty windows.
Oireachtas management has cited ongoing policies around climate targets and energy efficiency as reasons for limiting certain furnishings, including lights and individual waste bins.