Mary Lou McDonald may face censure motion

Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald will likely only face a motion of censure for abusing Dáil privilege and alleging named individuals were evading tax, says the Government’s chief whip.

Paul Kehoe said the Opposition TD would not face a spell of absence from the chamber nor any harsher sanction and would only be penalised with what is allowed under the current Dáil regulations. His comments came as Ms McDonald rejected a finding by an Oireachtas committee that she abused Dáil privilege and named several former politicians as evading tax through offshore accounts.

The Committee on Procedure and Privileges is expected to discuss its findings against Ms McDonald next week and a motion of censure could be later agreed against her. However, this would effectively only be a verbal warning voted on and announced in the chamber.