It recommends "action be taken against Ms La Manna as a public official with a view to dismissing, dispensing with or otherwise terminating her services". In a brief statement Ms D'Amore said she was "appalled at the findings of the ICAC" and would continue as the MP for Drummoyne. "I am disappointed at the recommendations of the commission and I am seeking legal advice to launch an appeal and quash the commission's findings," she said. "I continue to vigorously deny that I have done anything dishonest. "My focus now is to clear my name and I have made the decision not to stand in the ALP preselection for the state seat of Drummoyne.

"However, I will continue to represent my residents as the state member for Drummoyne." Premier Kristina Keneally said she was "angry and frustrated" at the development. While Ms Keneally said she had instructed the Labor Party to suspend Ms D'Amore's membership, she refused to call for Ms D'Amore's resignation from Parliament, arguing that it was not her role to do so. But she has asked that Labor's general secretary, Sam Dastyari, not consider Ms D'Amore as a Labor candidate at the March election. "These are serious findings," Ms Keneally said.

"What I say to the people of Drummoyne is this: I acknowledge that the member for Drummoyne has broken the trust between the community and their elected representative." Ms D'Amore, who is the sister-in-law of retiring Fairfield MP Joe Tripodi, was investigated over signing false expense claims in three periods between August 2006 and June 2007. The forms were for a now-defunct entitlement, called the sitting day relief allowance, under which MPs could claim the cost of a staff member in their electorate office to replace one required to attend Parliament on sitting days. One of Ms D'Amore's staff, Karen Harbilas, told the commission she had falsely written the name of another staff member, David Nicoletti, on the claim form after being told to do so by Ms D'Amore. Ms D'Amore denied the claim. The ICAC said Ms Harbilas's evidence was the key to exposing Ms D'Amore's corrupt conduct. It said it had exercised its discretion to not make a corrupt finding against her.

During the hearings, Ms D'Amore's counsel argued the MP had simply been "careless" in signing claim forms which contained false details. The ICAC report said Ms D'Amore instructed or authorised Ms La Manna and Ms Harbilas to complete false claim forms, which resulted in them receiving a total of $4500 "to which they were not entitled". Ms D'Amore consistently denied any wrongdoing and her counsel even clashed with the commission over its name for the investigation, "Operation Syracuse", which appeared to reflect on her Sicilian ancestry. This year, a Labor MP for Penrith was also found to have acted corruptly in claiming the same allowance. During public hearings into her matter, Ms Karyn Paluzzano admitted lying to the commission about rorting the entitlement. She was forced to resign soon after, forcing a byelection in her seat of Penrith at which Labor suffered a swing against it of 25 per cent.

Sean Nicholls is the Herald's State Political Editor/with AAP

