New Dail footage shows seven votes being recorded in Fianna Fail TD Timmy Dooley's seat while colleague Lisa Chambers sits in his place.

Oireachtas video recordings from January 17 show Ms Chambers, Fianna Fail's Brexit spokesperson, in Mr Dooley's seat during almost 50 minutes of Dail votes.

Mr Dooley is not shown in or near his seat during this period. Votes are recorded for both TDs in their respective seats on issues ranging from rural crime, nursing and cycling.

For most of the voting session, Fianna Fail's health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly is seated in Ms Chambers's seat.

A vote is also recorded in Mr Donnelly's seat while he is in Ms Chambers's seat. However, this cannot be seen as Mr Donnelly's seat is off camera.

Yesterday, Mr Dooley said he was in the chamber at the time of the vote even though he was not in his seat and could not be seen on camera throughout almost an hour of voting.

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"I checked my own notes and I was present in the chamber for that parliamentary voting session," he told the Sunday Independent.

Mr Dooley could not say where he was in the chamber when the seven votes took place.

Dail attendance records show that Mr Dooley was marked as presented in Leinster House on the day of the vote.

Ms Chambers did not respond to a request for comment or offer any explanation as to why she sat in Mr Dooley's seat through the voting session.

Mr Donnelly also did not respond to requests for comment on how votes were recorded in his seat while he was sitting in Ms Chambers's spot.

A Fianna Fail source said TDs from all parties had admitted voting for colleagues while they were not in their seats.

The new footage comes after the Dail's ethics committee issued Ms Chambers with an official warning following an inquiry into a previous vote she made on behalf of Fianna Fail deputy leader Dara Calleary.

Ms Chambers admitted she voted for Mr Calleary while he was not in the chamber but said she pressed his voting button by accident. She said she did not tell Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail about the incident because the vote had passed by a large majority.

The Oireachtas Committee on Members' Interests found Ms Chambers "acted in good faith" and voted "inadvertently".

However, it warned Ms Chambers that a further breach of voting rules could lead to a finding that she had acted "recklessly" or "intentionally".

The committee is still investigating six votes cast by Fianna Fail TD Niall Collins on behalf of Mr Dooley.

It has written to Mr Dooley, asking why he made a formal apology to the Dail about the incident.

In October, the Clare TD apologised for "the fact that when I spoke to Deputy Collins I gave him the impression that I would be in the chamber" for voting throughout the voting block.

The apology followed a comprehensive report by the clerk of the Dail into the votes cast by Mr Collins and Ms Chambers.

Mr Collins has said he believed Mr Dooley was in the chamber when he was voting on his behalf. Video footage of the incident showed Mr Dooley point at a seat and leave before Mr Collins began voting for him.

The ethics committee is expected to reprimand Mr Collins. The controversy forced the Ceann Comhairle to insist all TDs are in their designated seats when votes are being recorded.

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Sunday Independent