Donohoe tells Dáil he 'sincerely regrets' controversy around his election declarations

Paschal Donohoe said: "I have worked tirelessly in any public office that I have held, always committed to the public interest and the common good. Honesty and integrity matter, above all, in public life. I am very sorry that this has happened." File photo: RollingNews.ie

Minister Paschal Donohoe "sincerely regrets" the controversy that has emerged around his election declarations.

Addressing the Dáil, Mr Donohoe said he was not aware that six people had been paid to put up posters at the time of the 2016 election. However, he also revealed that he has sold €1,716 worth of Fine Gael super draw tickets to businessman Michael Stone who provided assistance in putting up the election posters.

"Mr Stone has made no donations to me personally. However, in 2020 and 2021, Mr Stone made a donation to Fine Gael by the purchase of Superdraw tickets, which were sold by me."

He said, in 2020, five tickets with a donation value of €334 were sold to Mr Stone, and in 2021, 22 tickets with a donation value of €1,382 were bought.

Mr Donohoe told the Dáil: "I have worked tirelessly in any public office that I have held, always committed to the public interest and the common good. Honesty and integrity matter, above all, in public life. I am very sorry that this has happened."

He said that in 2016, the Fine Gael organisation in Dublin Central was offered assistance with his re-election campaign, erecting and removing posters which he understood was on a voluntary basis. He said the work was carried out on four dates during the campaign period, before and after polling day with six people involved.

"Neither myself nor anyone involved in my campaign team paid the people concerned, nor was I, at that time, aware they had been paid. For that reason, no cost was attributed to this support on the election expense form submitted to Sipo, following that election."

The minister said he was not aware during the election campaign of the use of a company van, but became aware of an allegation in 2017 that a company vehicle had been used during the campaign. File photo: Grainne Ni Aodha/PA

Mr Donohoe told the Dáil that in December, in light of a complaint made to Sipo, he undertook a full review of the campaign in recent weeks.

"During the course of the review, I was made aware that the individuals concerned had been paid for their help in the 2016 campaign. I was not aware before this time of any payment having been made," Mr Donohoe said, telling the Dáil that the total payment to the people involved was €1,100.

The minister said he was not aware during the election campaign of the use of a company van, but became aware of an allegation in 2017 that a company vehicle had been used during the campaign.

"In retrospect, I should have amended my election expenses form at that time to the value of €140 to take account of the commercial value of a vehicle for the hours used. This was a mistake on my part and I acknowledge and apologise for that error."

However, Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty said the Minister has been "caught out" adding that he tried to "cover it up" in 2017 and again last year. He said Mr Donohoe had "concocted stories to make it go away".

Mr Doherty said Mr Donohoe had initially said the work was carried out at night, but it has since emerged that the posters were put up during the day "by men in hard hats with a company van parked beside them".

He questioned the value of the work, claiming it cost Fianna Fáil's Mary Fitzpatrick more than €5,000 to put up and take down posters in the same constituency.

Labour's Ged Nash said the Minister was simply "selling us a narrative here that suits your own ends." He also pressed the Minister on the estimate of the cost of this service.

Mr Nash said:

We know that the usual price charged for erecting and removing election posters in 2016 was €5 per poster, €3 up, €2 down. If 1,000 posters were involved, then the commercial value is closer to €5,000.

The Louth TD said the law and the guidelines are explicit in relation to this and where the price charged for a service is less than the usual commercial price, then the difference between the usual commercial price and the lower price is a political donation.

"Whether provided by an individual or by a company, the true value of this service seems to be way in excess of the donation limits," he added.

"If that is so, then doesn’t it follow that what you received was a prohibited donation, in excess of the donation limits? If so, then shouldn’t your amended declaration also state that you received a prohibited donation the value of which, so far, you have not returned to the donor?"

Independent TD Thomas Pringle said the Government was "trying to make light of the issue" and was hoping to "shut it down" by stating Sipo should be allowed to fully investigate the matter. However, he said that Sipo has limited powers.

Galway TD Catherine Connolly said "anybody can make a mistake" but "it's how you handle those mistakes." and said an overhaul and resourcing of Sipo should be fast-tracked in light of this.

She said Sipo had "begged us repeatedly year after year" to provide them with more powers and she said there is now an "absolute urgency" to publish a review into Sipo and the capacity it has to probe matters.