Fine Gael seeks to turn tables on Sinn Féin over electoral finances

Fine Gael sought to heap the pressure on Sinn Féin on questions about its party finances yesterday, thoroughly enjoying its rivals discomfort just weeks after Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe endured two difficult Dáil sessions about his election posters at the hands of Sinn Féin.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has called for Dáil statements on the party’s finances after revelations in The Irish Times at the weekend about contradictions and anomalies in the party accounts and its electoral spending declarations.

Last night, Minister for State at the Department of Finance Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill echoed Mr Varadkar’s call, saying that Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and finance spokesman Pearse Doherty must “explain the ever-changing story in relation to Sinn Féin’s finances in the Dáil”.

[ Confusion and contradictions mount as Sinn Féin tries to explain its financial declarations ]

[ Miriam Lord: Fine Gael happy to dish it out as Sinn Féin’s election expenses come under fire ]

Key questions

Sinn Féin has responded to the questions by insisting there is no investigation by the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) into its financial affairs.

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In fact, Sipo has repeatedly told the complainant in the case that it is examining the issues raised by him, and the case has been repeatedly discussed at meetings of the commission. It has not yet been concluded.

This is confirmed in emails seen by The Irish Times. As a matter of policy, Sipo declines to confirm or deny that it is examining any particular issue.

Sinn Féin has not, however, addressed the principal questions raised by the complaints and reported in The Irish Times

These include that in its 2016 accounts, the party declared general election spending of €313,000. But the electoral spending returns to Sipo for the 2016 election show the party spent just €76,000 on the campaign.

In response to questions, the party said: “The €313,000 figure ... includes our election spend for the 2016 general election and also includes substantial spending on political campaigns such as the 1916 centenary events.”

But this explanation is contradicted directly by notes to the accounts, which state that spending on the general election was €313,000 and lists zero expenditure for the “1916 campaign”.

The party also said the accounts included election expenditure in the election period and outside of the period. But if the party’s figures are correct, this means that Sinn Féin did most of its election spending outside the period of the actual election campaign.

Inconsistencies

There are numerous other inconsistencies in a dossier submitted to Sipo by a financial expert, who is also a Fine Gael activist. The Irish Times also asked a senior independent chartered accountant to review the complaints. The accountant’s view was that some of the anomalies and contradictions identified in the audited accounts were minor in nature and likely to be the result of error.

However, contradictions between the accounts and the election declarations appear more substantial in nature and may require the amendment of the statutory filings. Furthermore, Sinn Féin’s explanations for the issues arising do not clarify the anomalies and inconsistencies.

The independent accountant also observed that the latest published accounts for the Northern Ireland section of the party show that it seems to have been kept afloat by the donations from the estate of William Hampton, an English man who left most of his estate to the party in his will. Sinn Féin circumvented a ban on foreign donations in the Republic by channelling the money to the Northern section. That move is also understood to be the subject of separate complaints to Sipo.

Sinn Féin also faced questions yesterday about allegations relating to the property interests of its finance chief, Des Mackin. Online investigative news site the Ditch reported that he had allegedly made unauthorised alterations to one of several rental properties he owns.