Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has described the providing of work references by two former party press officers for Michael McMonagle, who was then under investigation for child sexual offences, as unacceptable and reprehensible.
Last month, McMonagle, 42, from Limewood Street, Derry, admitted a series of offences, including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. He will be sentenced in November.
He was first arrested in August 2021 and Sinn Féin has said it suspended him as soon as it became aware of the police investigation.
His term of employment with Sinn Féin at the Assembly formally ended in July 2022.
McMonagle then went on to get a job with the British Heart Foundation, which did not know he was under investigation for child sex offences.
Sinn Féin has been under mounting pressure after it emerged that two former party press officers provided references for McMonagle in 2022 for the BHF job.
Ms McDonald told the Dáil "the two individuals concerned have lost their jobs. There are now no longer members of Sinn Féin, and that is as it should be."
She added that the party takes these matters very seriously and stated that she took swift action on the matter.
Ms McDonald said that transparency goes both ways and she called on the Government parties to make clear what sanctions they applied when senior figures wrote "character references for convicted rapists and child abusers".
She was responding to Government Chief Whip Hildegarde Naughton, who wanted the Dáil Business Committee to urgently arrange a time for Dáil statements on child protection issues.
Ms Carroll MacNeill and Minister of State Anne Rabbitte wrote to the Ceann Comhairle and said that a government party would quite rightly be held to account in the Dáil on this matter.
They added that the governing arithmetic of the day should not absolve any party from their responsibility to safeguard children.
In a statement, Sinn Féin said: "If the Government wants a debate on child protection we welcome that. We will set out how Sinn Féin has acted decisively and held people to account when guilty of gross misconduct.
"The Taoiseach and Tánaiste will also need to set out what sanctions they applied when senior members of their parties wrote references for child abusers and sex offenders."
Growing calls for Sinn Féin statement to Dáil
Labour Leader Ivana Bacik also said serious matters had arisen around Sinn Féin's handling of child sex abuse allegations.
She said it is important that there is accountability around this in political parties and this should be debated in the Dáil this week.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee also said that Ms McDonald should make a statement in the Dáil.
She was responding to Fine Gael TD Frank Feighan who noted the "very, very worrying revelations" concerning references given by the party.
"I fully support the deputy's call for the leader of the opposition party to make a statement" on the matter, the minister said.
She said that "it has become very clear that child safety was not paramount, but also that children potentially were put at further risk because of the actions and the decisions of that party".
The Dáil Business Committee will be meeting later to discuss the matter, Ms McEntee added.
Earlier, Tánaiste Micheál Martin called on the Sinn Féin leadership to make a statement to the Dáil on the matter.
Speaking on his way into a meeting of the Cabinet, he said: "There are facilities in the Dáil where members can make statements and clarify situations to the Dáil. I do think the leadership should avail of that opportunity."
Ms McDonald said she has ordered a complete overhaul of governance procedures within the party following the controversy, but Mr Martin said he did not understand how Sinn Féin needs to overhaul its rules on how cases of alleged abuse are handled.
"I mean, Sinn Féin would have had real issues in the past in terms of managing matters of this kind. One only has to refer back to how Máiría Cahill was treated by [Sinn Féin leader] Mary Lou MacDonald and by Sinn Féin," he said.
Labour's Ged Nash said his party will call for time to be made available in the Dáil today to discuss Sinn Féin’s "unacceptable" response to child protection issues in Northern Ireland.
Labour's Ged Nash said his party will call for time to be made available in the Dáil today to discuss Sinn Féin’s "unacceptable" response to child protection issues in the North. He said the question has to be asked: "Why is this always Sinn Féin?" pic.twitter.com/LzGv8qSVHQ
— Mícheál Lehane (@MichealLehane) October 8, 2024
Additional reporting Colman O'Sullivan
