It has been claimed that the Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould can make a statement to the Dáil without prejudicing the garda investigation into alleged financial irregularities at a Cork company which he used to work for.
The claim was made by his party colleague David Cullinane, who asserted that Mr Gould had "vigorously" rejected the allegations, any Dáil statement would be "very brief", and it was the "prerogative" of the Cork North Central TD to make such a statement.
Mr Cullinane said there was "no need" for any internal Sinn Féin examination of the matter, given that no charges had been levelled against Mr Gould, who was arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and questioned for several hours last Friday.
He added that had Mr Gould not sought to make a Dáil statement, the media would be challenging him to make one.
Asked about comments by Taoiseach Micheál Martin yesterday, in which he said due process should run its course before any statement, Mr Cullinane said Mr Martin would be better served asking other parties to make Dáil statements.
This was an apparent reference to Sinn Féin's demand for Fine Gael TD Jerry Buttimer to make a statement about his interaction with party colleague Senator Martin Conway regarding an internal inquiry in 2020 arising from a complaint of inappropriate behaviour against an Oireachtas female staff member.
Sinn Féin TD Louise O'Reilly said in a letter that she wanted to find out if Mr Buttimer asked Mr Conway to nominate him for the position of Leas-Chathaoirleach of the Seanad in 2020.
"Did you do so knowing that Senator Conway had been investigated by your party and found to have engaged in inappropriate behaviour towards a female member of staff?" she asked.
