Sinn Féin has raised further questions about Fine Gael's handling of the Senator Martin Conway controversy.
Speaking in the Dáil during statements on International Women's Day, TD Louise O'Reilly listed a number of questions she had asked Minister of State Jerry Buttimer in a letter sent yesterday.
She said it was now a matter of public record that Mr Conway was subject to a Fine Gael internal inquiry as a result of a complaint of inappropriate behaviour against an Oireachtas female staff member.
Ms O'Reilly said 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.
The Sinn Féin TD also wanted to know if Mr Buttimer advised Mr Conway in relation to the complaint or if he, or Fine Gael, obtained the services of a solicitor to act on Mr Conway's behalf.
She asked, too, if Mr Buttimer informed the Houses of the Oireachtas or the gardaí in relation to the allegation.
It is understood that Mr Buttimer and Fine Gael are both adamant that they played no role in securing the services of a solicitor for Mr Conway.
Disciplinary process initiated
Fine Gael has initiated a disciplinary process into the Clare-based senator after he confirmed recently that he had been arrested by gardaí last month, but failed to inform party headquarters.
In a statement, the senator said he was arrested on 22 January on O'Connell Street in Dublin "for being in an intoxicated state due to consumption of sleeping tablets and alcohol" but was released from custody a few hours later.
The now-independent senator had been the subject of a separate Fine Gael inquiry in 2020, arising from an incident which happened in 2018.
Mr Conway had been accused of acting in an inappropriate manner with a female Oireachtas staff member working for a Fine Gael politician in a bar in Dublin.
A Fine Gael spokesperson said the accusation was "put to the person concerned" [Mr Conway] and that he "subsequently apologised".
The spokesperson added that this apology was conveyed to the woman and it "... was accepted ... and agreed that no further action was required by the [Fine Gael] party.
"The other party [the female Oireachtas staff member] has asked that their privacy be fully and absolutely respected, and no contact be made with them by media outlets."
