A war of words has broken out between Sinn Féin and Fine Gael over election expenses.
As Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe faces the prospect of a Dáil statement over his handling of declarations, his own party highlighted Sinn Féin's late disclosure of a payment to a British polling company.
Sinn Féin, however, has defended its declaration of the payment of almost €7,000 for work during General Election 2020 and said Fine Gael was raising it to deflect attention away from Paschal Donohoe.
In a statement, Sinn Féin confirmed that when submitting returns to the Standards in Public Office Commission in relation to the election one invoice was "accidently omitted" due to staff working remotely as a result of Covid-19 restrictions.
The party said when it came to light two years later it was immediately amended and the spending was well within election limits.
But Fine Gael's Minister of State Peter Burke said: "Sinn Féin originally made an inaccurate return and failed to include a poll, carried out by a London based company, and tweeted by Deputy Eoin Ó Bróin in the closing stages of the February 2020 election. It cost €7,000. How can you forget a sum like that?"
He added: "If the return was being done in a normal professional environment, Sinn Féin would be reviewing money spent from their bank accounts during the electoral period and reconciling the statements."
A spokesperson for Sinn Féin said: "Fine Gael are desperately trying to distract from the failure of Paschal Donohoe to answer questions about a political donation to him, the explanation which thus far stretches all bounds of credibility."
Opposition parties have formally requested the Ceann Comhairle to ask Paschal Donohoe to come before the Dáil at the earliest opportunity to make a full statement and to take questions on issues surrounding his declaration in respect of the 2016 General Election campaign.
The request was signed by the party whips from Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, the Social Democrats, the Rural Independents, PBP/Solidarity, and the Independent Group.
Labour calls for a full Dáil statement from @Paschald along with a questions and answers session to "clear up matters." The party also wants to know who will take charge of public ethics reform now that Paschal Donohoe has stood back from that role. pic.twitter.com/bmk15mayAd
— Mícheál Lehane (@MichealLehane) January 17, 2023
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the statement must be followed by a questions and answers session with the minister in the Dáil chamber.
She said the minister must clarity the "commercial value" of the donation received.
The party is also seeking to find out who will lead the work of reforming public ethics legislation now that Mr Donohoe has stood back from this role.
Earlier, a spokesperson for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform said the minister is willing to make a Dáil statement on the issue, if he is asked to do so.
On Sunday, Mr Donohoe said that he updated his election expenses statement to the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) after reviewing his records.
The minister also said he is to recuse himself from policy decisions related to the progression of ethics legislation.
Mr Donohoe has maintained that services provided by six people to his campaign did not meet the threshold required to be declared as a donation.
The services relate to putting up and taking down electoral posters, which he said he believed had been voluntary.
Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney described the statement given on Sunday by Mr Donohoe as very credible and helpful.
Mr Coveney said a review by SIPO is now under way and it should be left to take its course.
"But I do think that the statement that Paschal made was clear and credible on Sunday and of course if there are any further issues to be addressed in the context of the SIPO investigation, I'm sure that will happen," he said.
Speaking at an event in Dublin to mark the publication of the annual results of the Local Enterprise Offices, Mr Coveney added: "But I think Paschal has done all he can in terms of assessing what happened back in 2016."
Mr Coveney said that these were services offered to the constituency to help in Mr Donohoe's campaign.
"The constituency or Paschal didn't make any payments in relation to that," he said.
"And so what he's done now is he's given the best assessment that he can give, you know, on the basis of understanding what happened back in 2016, he's corrected the record fully.
"And I think he's given a very detailed and credible statement in relation to that. And now I think it's over to SIPO to do their work."
Mr Coveney added that Mr Donohoe has done the right thing by recusing himself from any policy initiatives in relation to SIPO until that process concludes.
Additional reporting Will Goodbody, Mícheál Lehane
