Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Michael Healy-Rae has said the Sinn Féin leader should tell the Dáil what she knows about the arrest of the party’s TD Thomas Gould.
“Over the last number of weeks Deputy Mary Lou McDonald has been very strong with the Tánaiste in the Dáil saying she wanted statements to be made by him over allegations with regard to a Senator,” he told RTÉ on Sunday.
“So I would presume over the next couple of weeks we can look forward to Mary Lou McDonald being very forthcoming in whatever knowledge she has about this situation.”
He said it was not “for us to comment here today” on the arrest, “but I’m sure she will have a lot to say on the record of the Dáil because she has been saying a lot about things like this over the last couple of weeks.”
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Mr Gould (56) has said he is innocent of all wrongdoing as he confirmed he is the politician who was questioned by gardaí on Friday about an alleged case of fraud. The Irish Times revealed on Saturday that a member of the Oireachtas had been arrested and questioned about an alleged €150,000 business fraud almost a decade ago. A file is expected to be prepared for the DPP in relation to the allegation.
On Sunday a solicitor acting on behalf of a second Sinn Féin politician arrested as part of the Garda inquiry into the alleged business fraud said his client denies any wrongdoing.
Cllr Kenneth Collins, who serves on Cork City Council representing the northwest of the city, was arrested by appointment at Togher Garda station, his solicitor Frank Buttimer said.
Mr Buttimer said Mr Collins had fully co-operated with the Garda and had been given the details of a complaint against him for the first time during the interview, and that he answered all questions put to him during the interview.
“He denied any wrongdoing, and was released without charge,” Mr Buttimer said. He said the alleged offences that are the subject of the complaint were committed a number of years ago, when Mr Collins was an employee of the company concerned.
Speaking about Mr Gould’s situation to RTÉ’s The Week in Politics, Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan said it was “very different” to that facing the Tánaiste, Simon Harris, over Senator Martin Conway, who stood down from the parliamentary party after being arrested while intoxicated in Dublin. He said he had been under the influence of alcohol and sleeping tablets at the time and was released without charge.
Ms Boylan said her understanding was the first Ms McDonald and the party became aware of the matter regarding Mr Gould was in early February.
“I know that Thomas has released an extensive statement and he emphatically denies the allegations that are made against him.”
“So there’s very little else I can say about that. It’s now in the hands of the DPP,” she said.
“The knowledge I have around Thomas Gould is that it was early February when he informed the party that an allegation had been made and he emphatically denies those allegations.”
Ms McDonald said in a statement on Saturday that Mr Gould and Mr Collins “both emphatically deny the allegations. It is now for the gardaí to continue their investigation into the complaint.”
