LAST UPDATE | 18 Jan 2023

THE GOVERNMENT IS “mired in scandal” due to controversies surrounding two Fine Gael politicians, according to Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald. 

Meath West TD Damian English resigned as a Minister of State recently over his failure to fill out a planning application correctly for a house 14 years ago. 

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe apologised at the weekend for failing to declare a donation of services to the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) during the 2016 general election campaign after a complaint was made against him, revealing that around €1,000 was unaccounted for.

In total, Donohoe says that €1,057 was left unaccounted for in his declarations to Sipo, which is the value of the labour and the company van.

Under Sipo rules, all political donations over the value of €600 must be registered with the ethics watchdog.

The donation of services was provided by businessman Michael Stone to six individuals who worked to put up and take down election posters. Stone is also on the board of the Land Development Agency (LDA), a commercial, State-sponsored body.

These services were provided over four days, with a company van also being used by the individuals hanging posters.

During the first Leaders’ Questions of the new year, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he believed Donohoe’s explanation, stating that is “a man of integrity and someone who tells the truth”. 

Donohoe concedes that a mistake was made on his 2016 general election expenses, he said.

Varadkar said conclusions should not be jumped to, stating that there is a reason why there is an independent commission in Sipo to carry out such reviews. 

“It is now up to the Standards Commission to investigate this complaint,” he said. 

The Taoiseach told the Dáil that he had only learned about the controversy “in the last few days.”

McDonald said the matter had been ongoing for some time, but it took Sipo writing to the minister last Friday for him to respond.

Donohoe’s story “lacks any credibility whatsoever”, she told the Dáil. 

Speaking about the English controversy, McDonald said:

There are tens of thousands of people who were not able to build a one-off home because, unlike deputy English, they were honest in filling out their forms, but he believed that those rules did not apply to him.

She added: “Despite his best efforts, Minister Donohoe cannot escape the fact that he broke the rules by receiving this donation.”

Donohoe is due to make a statement on his handling of declarations in the Dáil at 5 pm, after opposition parties called for him to formally address the matter. However, there was confusion in the Dáil today as to what extent the minister would answer questions from the opposition. 

During a tense exchange in the Dáil chamber, Varadkar rounded on Sinn Fein, stating that an explanation is needed €1,000 donation from Jonathan Dowdall.

Dowdall was a Sinn Féin councillor in 2014, but stepped down that year amid claims of bullying. In 2018, he was jailed - along with his father – for torturing a man they suspected of trying to defraud them, in January 2015.

Dowdall (44) – a married father of four with an address at Navan Road, Cabra, Dublin 7 – was due to stand trial today for the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel, alongside his friend Gerard ‘The Monk’ Hutch.

However, Dowdall pleaded guilty in advance of the trial to a lesser charge of facilitating the Hutch gang by making a hotel room available ahead of the murder.

“There’s a not dissimilar situation here in relation to a donation that you accepted, a 1,000 euro donation that you accepted from Dowdall, your friend,” he said.

“On your declaration deputy, in 2021, you claimed it as a personal donation to you. It has since been claimed by [Sinn Fein TD Louise] O’Reilly and by you and by others, that it was a donation to Sinn Fein.

“Do you not now need to correct that declaration? Was it a donation to you, which you took and spent? Was it a donation to your party? There is a difference, deputy – I don’t know if there is a Sipo complaint in about this, but somebody might consider doing that, because you’ve questions to answer in that regard too,” he added. 

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said that the issues faced by English and Donohoe “raise fundamental questions about the standards in public life”.

“One minister has already resigned without answering any questions, and further, the minister responsible for ethics reform is now under investigation for undisclosed election donations.”

She said that this was particularly unwelcome as attempts are being made by a “fringe minority” to sow distrust and attack elected representatives.

Bacik also asked questions about reform of the ethics legislation. Varadkar clarified that Donohoe, who has already recused himself from dealing with Sipo reforms, will no longer be over that brief. Instead, Finance Minister Michael McGrath will retain responsibility over driving those reforms. 

Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform, Mairéad Farrell, said that Donohoe’s attempt to explain the undeclared declarations “doesn’t add up”.

“The attempt by Paschal Donohoe to suggest that services provided to his campaign by his friend’s company do not constitute a political donation to him stretches all credibility,” she said. 

 Farrell stressed that all election candidates are briefed clearly on what is deemed a political donation and what isn’t. 

“The rules are very clear on this. A candidate cannot accept a donation above €1,000. 

“This donation was above that limit. The value that Paschal has ascribed to this service, provided by his friend, is a fraction of the commercial cost of such a service. His sums don’t add up.

“The Minister must come clean and thoroughly answer all of the outstanding issues,” she added. 

Meanwhile Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shorthall has said that this matter should not slow the progress of long-overdue reform of Ireland’s ethics legislation. 

She suggested that responsibility for reform of ethics legislation be given to Minister for Finance Michael McGrath, who was overseeing the work until the recent Cabinet reshuffle.

This latest debacle follows on from Robert Troy’s resignation as a junior minister last year, and more recently, Fine Gael’s Damien English stepping down last week.

 Speaking to Newstalk FM yesterday, Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney said he believes that Donohoe has given a “very detailed explanation as to what happened”.

“I know that he has worked hard to try to fully understand what happened at that time because let’s not forget, this is about the general election in 2016, when his constituency in Dublin Central was offered assistance to put up and take down posters for Paschal Donohoe,” Coveney said.

“Neither the constituency nor Paschal paid for those services and weren’t aware of the cost of them at the time,” he said.

“This happened back in 2016. He was clear in his statement that that offer of assistance to put up and take down posters – there wasn’t any payment made by the party or him for those services. It was only when he started to look in detail and obviously ask questions as to who paid for what that he established the numbers.

“And now he’s apologised and said that he’d like to have done this earlier and he’s corrected the record fully. He’s done what he can in that regard, but he’s also accepted that he made a mistake here.”

With reporting by Christina Finn and Press Association