Election expenses errors down to 'sloppiness', Sinn Féin claims
Eoin Ó Broin of Sinn Fein said his party’s errors were corrected as soon as they were highlighted. Picture: Damien Storan
Sinn Féin has claimed there is a “world of difference” between its undeclared expenses and the Paschal Donohoe 'poster gate' affair.
The party has also said Mr Donohoe is not owed an apology despite it emerging that there were expenses for events that were undeclared by Sinn Féin.
The party’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said that Mr Donohoe’s failure to declare expenses related to posters for an election campaign was substantially more serious.
Earlier this week, Mr Donohoe informed the Dáil of a breach of election rules after Fine Gael in Dublin Central unknowingly received a corporate donation above the legal limit for the 2020 general election.
Mr Ó Broin said his party’s errors were the result of “sloppy” mistakes and were corrected as soon as they were highlighted.
"We have made a number of errors. They have been brought to our attention, in some instances by the media, and as soon as they have been brought to our attention, we've rectified them immediately,” he told RTÉ Radio.
"That's a world of a difference from Paschal, who failed to declare significant donations, was notified in 2017, did nothing about it, was notified in 2022, did nothing about it, came before the Dáil once, didn't declare his full donations, and still has very significant questions to answer."
Mr Ó Broin said there is a distinction between the cases where his party has not declared expenses and Mr Donohoe because "where mistakes were made, the moment they were brought to our attention, we acknowledged the mistakes and we rectified them".
As reported by the , Sinn Féin's 2020 election expenses statement to the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) will have to be corrected again after the party found further errors in its returns.
Two invoices with sterling values of £4,800 and £800 were sent by the party to Sipo in 2020, but the euro value should have been returned.
This means the party under-declared its election expenses for 2020 by €945.
It will be the fourth time Sinn Féin has returned its 2020 election expenses to Sipo.
In relation to the hosting of websites by Sinn Féin, he said that they were a recurring charge.
"Our understanding is because it's a recurring charge that would have to be paid, whether it was an election or not. There is no requirement to record it as an election expense, but it is recorded, and it is published in our annual accounts.
"Sipo have written to us, on foot of a complaint from a Fine Gael activist. We will absolutely respond to them.
"But our understanding, it doesn't require declaration in your election returns. It's €45 a month... there is a world of a difference between administrative errors, no matter how sloppy they are, and the refusal and failure to answer questions about significant corporate donations."
