The Fianna Fáil and Green Party leaders have defended embattled Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe but stopped short of saying they are confident that he has nothing more to disclose about his election expenses.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan responded to the news that Mr Donohoe is to make another statement to the Dáil next Tuesday about the controversy after a meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference at Farmleigh House on Thursday evening.
The Minister for Public Expenditure has been under pressure over his failure to declare 2016 election expenses paid by a friend. The Fine Gael politician gave a statement in the Dáil on Wednesday, after which he did not take questions, and on Thursday morning said he was seeking another opportunity to make a further statement regarding election expenses.
Mr Martin and Mr Ryan were asked by reporters if they were confident that Mr Donohoe had nothing further to disclose.
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Mr Martin said: “I think, in fairness, I’m going to wait to see what Paschal has to say to the House.”
He said there needs to be “balance and perspective in relation to these issues” and he described Mr Donohoe as “a very honourable person to deal with” and someone who “has the country’s interests at heart”.
Mr Martin said he was “not going to pre-empt what Paschal is going to say” and it is “a matter for Paschal what clarity he wishes to bring to the situation next Tuesday or whatever additional material”.
‘Questions to be answered’
Mr Ryan said he had a “similar perspective” to the Tánaiste. “My sense is there are questions to be answered,” he said, adding that the forum where this should be done was the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo).
He went on: “I think it’s difficult sometimes to do it in the Dáil because in a sense those asking the questions may have questions asked of them in turn.
“I absolutely respect Paschal decided to return and to answer some of the questions he was asked. He has that right and I respect that and I think let that happen.”
Mr Martin rejected a suggestion that it was farcical that Mr Donohoe would not make the further statement until Tuesday.
“He will want to make a comprehensive statement to the House and I think that’s what he wants to do next week and so and that’s the context,” he said. “The House isn’t meeting tomorrow, it’s not meeting Monday, it’s meeting on Tuesday.”
The Dáil business committee on Thursday agreed that Mr Donohoe could give a 10-minute statement after Taoiseach’s Questions next Tuesday on the matter. There will be six minutes allotted to each Opposition group and party with questions and answers taken immediately at each slot.
The Opposition strongly criticised Mr Donohoe for not answering questions put to him following his statement on the controversy on Wednesday evening.
‘Earliest possible opportunity’
He told the Dáil on Thursday morning that he planned to make another statement at the “earliest possible opportunity” but was not in a position to do so today. “I do plan to make a further statement in relation to issues involving the 2016 general election campaign and matters that were put to me last night,” he said.
Sinn Féin deputy leader Pearse Doherty said it was completely and utterly unacceptable that the Minister would not come before the Dáil until next week. He said the Minister was “embroiled in controversy” and was refusing to answer questions in the Dáil.
Mr Donohoe disclosed to the Dáil on Wednesday that businessman Michael Stone made two other donations worth €1,716 to Fine Gael in addition to the postering services he donated during the 2016 general election campaign.
The Minister said that in 2020 and 2021 Mr Stone, the founder of engineering company Designer Group, purchased Fine Gael superdraw tickets, which Mr Donohoe sold to him. Mr Stone bought five tickets worth €334 in 2020 and 22 tickets worth €1,382 in 2021.
In a personal statement to the Dáil relating to his failure to include a donation of services worth €1,057 by Mr Stone during the 2016 campaign, Mr Donohoe apologised for the omission and said he was “very sorry that it has happened”. A total of €917 was donated by way of services by workers erecting the posters and a further €140 for the use of a van.
Mr Donohoe also said that as Sipo was now examining the donation, he has recused himself from any policy area involving electoral or ethical policy. Minister for Finance Michael McGrath has assumed responsibility for those areas.
The latest development have taken Government backbenchers by surprise, and caused concern. One Fianna Fáil TD said they believed a full Sipo investigation was now unavoidable, and that the situation was “very uncomfortable” for Mr Donohoe
The TD added that if anything emerged that was at odds with Mr Donohoe’s Dáil statement on Wednesday, it could cause major difficulties. “Fianna Fáil Ministers will back him, but if he has misled the Dáil, he could be in trouble,” the TD said.
Another said the situation was “getting messy”, while a third cautioned that the situation could “spin out of control”.
