Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe has made a further Dáil statement on Tuesday surrounding the controversy over his election expenses. “Despite my best efforts in recent weeks to ensure the fullest account of the support given in both 2016 and 2020 was accurate, an amendment will now be made to my 2020 General Election expenses form to reflect the new information to the amount of €864 for labour and €392.20 for vehicles for support received during the election period.” Mr Donohoe said he is now aware that an unauthorised corporate donation of €434.20 was unknowingly received by Fine Gael Dublin Central.
“This was in the form of the use of vehicles, the commercial value of which exceeded the maximum allowable donation limit of €200. SIPO have been notified of this breach and €234.20, the amount received in excess of the allowable limit, will be refunded to the Designer Group,” he said.
Ahead of the statement, Michael Stone, the businessman who paid for some election postering for Mr Donohoe during the 2016 general election campaign, has said he inadvertently misled Mr Donohoe and did provide further help to the Minister during his run for the Dáil in 2020.
Mr Stone issued a statement apologising for his error and saying he would resign from two unpaid State board positions he holds. “I deeply regret any embarrassment that I caused Paschal for my mistaken recollection in relation to 2020 and for what I thought was modest help for a hardworking, honest politician,” he said in the statement issued by his company, the Designer Group.
Concluding the q&a session, Minister Donohoe says he has done his best to respond throughout in a truthful and accurate way. He says he hopes he has made some difference in his work over three successive Governments and notes his contributions to bringing the national finance to a point of surplus twice, resolving international negotiation on the corporate tax rate and supporting workers and employers throughout the Covid-19
Donohoe says this doesn’t excuse or ignore the sequence of events the Dáil has just focused on but reminds him of standards that should have been applied to the issues.
He says he was not fully aware of how every poster “in my election campaign was put up, who did it and how and I did not know how that activity was being accounted for”. Donohoe says he understood that help to be on a voluntary basis and didn’t ask further questions adding “and I clearly should have”.
The minister says these are important matters and that some in the Opposition will seek to define him by this but that it is not all he has done as a TD for Dublin Central. He says he will take hard won lessons from the situation and will carry them with him as he continues to serve the people.
Independent TD Mattie McGrath says the minister has handled the controversy “in a very poor manner” adding “it’s time you put this to bed”. Minister Donohoe said he deeply regrets how the situation has developed.
The minister tells Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín that he plays “no part” in who gets a State contract despite “assertions” from the Meath West TD.
Donohoe says State contacts are awarded in an “independent, competitive way” by the Office of Public Works (OPW) and other bodies.
Answering questions from Independent TD Cathal Berry, Mr Donohoe says he has no guidelines as to how long Sipo’s process will be. He said he is not aware of any further information that needs to be brought forward.
Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall says the minister’s response has been to make “a complete hames of this” and that this is “a charitable reading of the situation”.
Donohoe admits “not knowing is not a defence” and that in the 2020 general election campaign he was rarely in his constituency office.
Concluding his statement, Mr Donohoe says that since Thursday, he has been working to ensure that the information regarding the 2020 General Election is completely accurate.
“I have informed the Dáil of the facts as I have known them that were true at each and every juncture and I again apologise for the difficulties this has caused for my party and the distraction it may have and does cause to the important work of Government. I have always sought to hold myself, and those around me, to the highest of standards,” he says.
“Finally, I want to say that I deeply regret that this has caused the loss of Mr Stone from the boards of both the Land Development Agency and the North East Inner City Taskforce. He gave his time freely in an attempt to make a difference to the lives of those who faced with significant challenges. His experience will be a great loss to both organisations.”
Mr Donohoe said neither he nor his team were aware of any payments to any individuals for the erection or removal of posters in either election at the time of filing election returns to SIPO.
“The vast majority of my posters were erected and taken down on a voluntary basis. This was, we believed, to be the case with regard to the support given by Michael Stone,” he said.
“At each point in this, having undertaken reviews designed to determine the full facts, we have always taken the appropriate steps to correct the record.
“Mr Stone has said that his statement, and the information given to me, represents his best and fullest recollection of events. Therefore, further steps are now being taken to account for this new information that has come to light, as outlined.”
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe has just concluded addressing the Dáil in relation to his general election expenses. He says following his statement on Wednesday he received a call from Michael Stone “telling me that a member of his team did recall support being provided in 2020 through the campaign team”.
“The details of the support provided are outlined in the statement from Mr Stone, which he issued earlier today. I was unaware of any of these details prior to Wednesday night,” he said.
“Despite my best efforts in recent weeks to ensure the fullest account of the support given in both 2016 and 2020 was accurate, an amendment will now be made to my 2020 General Election expenses form to reflect the new information to the amount of €864 for labour and €392.20 for vehicles for support received during the election period.”
Mr Donohoe says he is now aware that an unauthorised corporate donation of €434.20 was unknowingly received by Fine Gael Dublin Central.
“This was in the form of the use of vehicles, the commercial value of which exceeded the maximum allowable donation limit of €200. SIPO have been notified of this breach and €234.20, the amount received in excess of the allowable limit, will be refunded to the Designer Group,” he said.
An amendment will also be made this week to his election expenses to the value of €1256.20 for the work carried out and use of the vans up to polling day.
In response to Mr Boyd Barrett, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says he knows the issue is causing a lot of concern at the moment. He says no public land will be privatised and that the land that will be bought is already in private ownership.
Varadkar says contracts are signed but that “this wasn’t approved by Government”. He says: “I want to be clear on this, this is not our intended or preferred main model of going forward when it comes to increasing the amount of forests in Ireland. What we want primarily is Irish farmers taking up the forestry programme, taking up the schemes that are now available and that’s going to be the mainstay of our forest programme, not arrangements such as this.”
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett raises the “scandalous and unacceptable” proposal by Coillte to partner with a UK equity fund. He says the deal will exacerbate an already dysfunctional and failed forestry model.
The Dun Laoghaire TD asks will the Government agree to abandon this plan and radically reform the mandate of Coillte “so it starts to act in the interests of all of the people of this country and stop facilitating the profit hunger of vulture funds and equity funds”.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik raises a report published yesterday which outlined that more than 100 mentally ill children, including some on medication, were left for up to two years without care by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (Camhs). Bacik says these are “appalling findings” and notes reporting from Irish Times journalist Kitty Holland.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar acknowledges urgent action is needed and would be following up personally with junior minister Mary Butler in “taking the actions that are needed”. He says there will be a new clinical lead on mental health and that there has been “a lot of investment in Camhs in recent years”. Varadkar adds clearly there needs to be more investment in staff and clinical governance.
In response, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says the minister will make a statement later and the Opposition can put questions to him then.
He says once that process is over it will be a matter for the people to decide if they believe Paschal Donohoe or not and that having heard his explanations over the weekend, he believes him.
Varadkar says he has fought four general elections and knows what can happen in a campaign, “particularly in a chaotic campaign” and that there are strict laws in relation to election spending in Ireland.
The Taoiseach says the Sinn Féin leader needs to consider revising her own declaration. “Your declaration shows that you received a personal declaration of €1,000 from your friend, gangland criminal and Navan Road torturer” Jonathan Dowdall.
He says members of Sinn Féin have claimed this was a donation to the party but that requires McDonald to decide which it was and “make an amendment to your own declaration deputy, just as Minister Donohoe has”.
Leaders’ Questions have just kicked off here down at Leinster House - Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald says the controversy surrounding Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe raises again Fine Gael’s relationship with “big business " and its “influence at the heart of Government”.
She says the whole controversy carries the “stench of cronyism and favours for insiders”. McDonald references the statement put out by Michael Stone and says the theme of this controversy is the “minister’s ever changing story”.
“It has been an exercise in concealment and cover-up from start to finish,” she says.
McDonald says Minister’s Donohoe’s credibility “now lies in tatters”. “He has chosen concealment and cover-up again and again and at every turn the truth had to be dragged out of him,” she adds.
She says the minister misled the Dáil last week and claims that Michael Stone “falls on his sword” to protect him.
Who is Michael Stone ?
People who know Michael Stone - or Mick, as he is known to those close to him - say he has sounded shell-shocked over Paschal Donohoe’s election posters controversy, writes Simon Carswell, Public Affairs Editor. For a very private individual who takes great pride in working hard, below the radar, being at the centre of a political and media storm is not somewhere where the 54-year-old Dubliner likes to be. Read full Michael Stone profile here.
On last Friday’s podcast Harry McGee and Pat Leahy look at just how bad the controversy is for Mr Donohoe.
Postergate: How much bother is Paschal Donohoe in?
Political Editor, Pat Leahy asks what Michael Stone’s apology means for Pascal Donohoe. Read Pat’s analysis here. Meanwhile, Jack Horgan Jones asks if Donohoe will be able to draw line under the controversy.
Paschal Donohoe’s usefulness to Varadkar and Martin will save him
Gerard Howlin writes: ”Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe arrives in the Dáil again on Tuesday to explain his election expenses. By riding the tiger, he risks ending up inside of it. In the game of gotcha there are no rules and Donohoe’s offence is not what he did with his posters. It is what he failed to do for his colleagues. Alan Shatter, Frances Fitzgerald, Maria Bailey, Jerry Buttimer, Phil Hogan and Damien English are six of his own fed to the beast by Fine Gael. Read the full article here.
