Taoiseach Simon Harris has said there is a need for all information regarding the complaint made against former Sinn Féin member Brian Stanley to be made public.
Mr Stanley resigned from Sinn Féin at the weekend saying he had been subjected to a flawed inquiry process.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said that when she was made aware that a complaint had been made, she was not made aware of its nature, “as per the rules and procedure”.
Mr Harris described the issues facing the party as “serious” and said there appears to be “clear contradictions, I suppose, between the statements of deputy Stanley and those of Mary Lou McDonald, but they’re a matter for her”.
Mr Harris said it would be useful if the questions were answered in a “straightforward clear manner that doesn’t engage in any political point scoring”.
He added: “These issues are important, and I hope that’s the way in which they’ll be dealt with, just straight, straightforward answering of the direct questions.
“And today has actually added maybe another layer of confusion and lack of clarity.”
The Taoiseach said the public have a right to know what the allegation is.
“I think it would be very helpful if as much information as possible is put into the public domain, and if the questions that have legitimately been asked by yourselves in the media” are answered, he said.
Sinn Féin criticised for handling of Stanley complaint
Earlier, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe has questioned how Ms McDonald did not know the nature of the complaint, adding that it posed “serious questions”.
He said: “How is it you can be in an environment in which you become aware of a complaint against a very senior member of your party, somebody who’s chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, but you don’t know what that complaint itself is.
“That leads us to ask the question, did she not ask? And if not, why not? And if she did ask, but didn’t get an answer, why did that happen?
“These are really serious questions that cut to the leadership approach of a party that is still aspiring to lead a Government.”
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Speaking at the opening of a new clinical trial unit at Dublin’s Mater Hospital, Minister Donohoe said tomorrow will be an important day to “lay out the facts” of what happened in recent weeks in relation to complaints made about Mr Stanley.
The Fine Gael TD said that “tomorrow is very important in the statement that will be made to the Oireachtas” by the Sinn Féin leader.
“It provides a very important opportunity for full transparency to be brought to this issue and for the very serious questions at the heart of this to be answered.
“It is so important now in the time ahead that all the facts be laid out and that full transparency be afforded to what looks to be a very, very serious matter.”
Mr Donohoe questioned whether Sinn Féin members believe their own party procedures are more important than how the gardaí would deal with such matters.
Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said the matter is “the latest in a series of issues that Sinn Féin will have to address”, adding the party has questions to answer in light of what has occurred in recent days.
“There are questions for the Sinn Féin party about its handling of the instances in the case we have seen,” she said.
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Ms Bacik questioned when Sinn Féin discovered information that led them to refer the case to the gardaí and why they did not do so immediately rather than waiting for Mr Stanley to resign.
She also queried why the party leadership allowed him to remain in his role as chair of the PAC while an investigation was taking place.
‘Outsourcing oversight’
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said the Sinn Féin leader made a “serious mistake” in not making herself aware of the nature of the allegation.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, Mr Tóibín said that should not have been the case.
“Mary Lou has also stated that she purposefully did not make herself aware of what the nature of the allegation was, and I think that’s a serious mistake because … ultimately the buck should stop with her,” he said.
Mr Tóibín said that “outsourcing oversight” was not the correct way to handle the matter.
He said: “I’ve no problem that the senior qualified individuals are in charge of the process, but it is ultimately the responsibility of the leader to find out the nature and the seriousness of the allegations.
“Actually outsourcing oversight of those issues is not a good thing, is not a healthy thing and it does go back to that culture were even the leader of the political party within Sinn Féin again doesn’t have the same power or influence that they would have in another political party.”
The Aontú leader said the power structure within Sinn Féin meant that there would not be questions over Ms McDonald’s leadership.
“There are no questions over the leadership of Sinn Féin at the moment and there won’t be and there lies in, another example of the difficulty that Sinn Féin has,” he said.
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Tánaiste Micheál Martin questioned whether or not Sinn Féin should have referred allegations surrounding Mr Stanley to gardaí earlier.
Speaking in Luxembourg, he said: “I note that it has now been referred to An Garda Síochána. Whether Sinn Féin’s in a position to provide greater clarity around all of this is a matter for Sinn Féin. Perhaps they should.
“I don’t know the full background to this, but the issue of an internal disciplinary hearing that subsequently gets referred to the gardaí does open up the question, should it have been referred to the Gardai in the first instance?”
Mr Stanley is set to be removed from his role as chairperson of the PAC following his resignation.
Committee member James O’Connor also called on Sinn Féin to explain why it did not pass the complaint to gardaí in July.
Mr O’Connor and Ciarán Cannon, another member of PAC, have both said they will not co-operate with any newly appointed Sinn Féin chair until Ms McDonald makes a full statement to the Dáil.
Minister Donohoe has said he agrees with Deputy Cannon that “key facts” on this matter should be made fully transparent before any decision for a replacement chair is made.
In a post on X, Mr Cannon said that he would not co-operate until Ms McDonald makes a full statement to the Dáil “on all of the serious issues coming to light about her party”.
As a member of the Public Accounts Committee, I will not be co-operating with a newly appointed Sinn Féin Chairperson until such time as Mary Lou McDonald makes a full statement to Dáil Éireann on all of the serious issues coming to light about her party. pic.twitter.com/ml9s0xYhZK
— Ciaran Cannon (@ciarancannon) October 14, 2024
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One programme, Mr O’Connor also confirmed that he will be following Mr Cannon in doing so.
The Fianna Fáil TD said he is “extremely concerned” that Sinn Fein have “withheld what seems to be a very serious investigation into one of its members in our Cathaoirleach of the PAC, Brian Stanley”.
He added that it was worth referring to the fact that the PAC is “arguably the most important political committee in the country” with an important role in the oversight of expenditure across a number of organisations, including An Garda Síochána.
“They have only brought this to the public’s attention on foot of the resignation of Brian Stanley, that is the key fact,” he said.
“Mary Lou McDonald may not have said anything if this was not exposed when Brian Stanley resigned on Saturday,” he added.
Mr O’Connor said that it is now an “extremely serious” situation for the PAC around political transparency.
He cited the Tanáiste’s comments, asking if the matter should have been referred to the gardaí earlier.
He said that it is clear there has been a “major” investigation under way in Sinn Féin across a “long number of weeks”, adding that information of the investigation had been withheld from the committee.
“I would argue that Sinn Féin have had a cultural issue around internal investigations,” he said.
He described Sinn Féin’s position as “completely untenable”.
Mr O’Connor said: “We only learned on Sunday when they started to provide information through media interviews, of some of the nature of how serious this was – involving legal teams, involving Sinn Féin internal party members, and this to me is entirely unacceptable.
“How is it acceptable that the former chairperson of the PAC, Brian Stanley, has a case that’s been referred to AGS when he’s chairperson of an organisation that has an oversight role with AGS through the auditing of their accounts”.
He added that a full clarification statement needs to be provided to Dáil Éireann.
Additional reporting Tony Connelly and Carla O’Brien
