[2] In June 2010, Ó Murchú admitted that he stayed in CCE headquarters for €50 a night bed and breakfast while attending Leinster House, but claimed a €126 overnight allowance.
On 7 July 2010 he resigned the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party whip, along with John Hanafin and Jim Walsh, in protest at the Civil Partnership bill.
Ó Murchú's re-election was credited to support from Sinn Féin voters who had not contested the panel.
On 15 September 2011, at a meeting of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party, the issue of the 2011 presidential election was raised.
[9] The Irish Independent newspaper later published an apology, because Ó Murchú's absence was owing to his wife's illness while on a business trip to the United States of America.