Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats have formally called on Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris to tell the Dáil whether he knew former finance minister Paschal Donohoe was joining the World Bank before Mr Donohoe agreed to a €10m increase in its funding last April.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O'Callaghan individually called for clarity on the timeline during a Dáil discussion on Tuesday afternoon.
During a short exchange during the order of business debate which decides the Dáil's schedule for the week, Deputy McDonald said the April 2025 decision to give the World Bank €141.4m on 24 April instead of the €131.4m requested was of note as Mr Donohoe later joined the Washington DC-based body.
At the time, Mr Donohoe explained the decision by saying: "In light of the current international landscape, geopolitical tensions, and decisions by others in respect of commitments to Official Development Assistance, it is now more important than ever that we step up and make a contribution where we can."
Raising the issue in the Dáil on Tuesday afternoon, Deputy McDonald said "it raises very, very serious questions and I believe Government needs to come and answer questions".
Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan also expressed the same view, saying "the decision last April raises a number of questions over what he intended at this time".
Deputy O’Callaghan added: "The Minister for Finance [Simon Harris] should come into the Dáil and answer questions on this."
Speaking in the Dáil about the World Bank payment, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the €141.4m fund was classified as "the low option" by Department of Finance officials.
Responding to criticism from People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Paul Murphy and Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, the latter of whom claimed there was a "conflict of interest" involved, the Taoiseach said the figure was agreed in early 2025.
He said this was because while negotiations on the amount of money individual countries could provide to the World Bank ended in December 2024, there is a "convention" that an outgoing finance minister would not make a pledge on behalf of the incoming government which had yet to be formed at that stage.
As such, the exact figure Ireland would provide to the World Bank was only agreed in April.
Mr Martin also said that a number of options were put forward on the amount of money Ireland could provide, including: no funding, €121m, €144m and €158m.
The Taoiseach said the "mid-point recommended by officials" was €150m, which he noted was higher than the "low option" of €141m which was ultimately decided on.
On the specific questions about Mr Donohoe's potential role, Mr Martin said "negotiations are conducted by officials not countries" and that "ministers do not participate directly, by procedure".
Separate Government sources have indicated that while the negotiations were taking place Mr Donohoe would not have been aware of any future role, and were critical of opposition parties' views of what took place.
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Paschal Donohoe resigns as Minister for Finance for role at World Bank
