Minister Hildegarde Naughton has expressed her “deep disappointment” at Sinn Féin’s rejection of her offer of Dáil time to give statements on the party’s finances.
The Galway West TD wrote to the Ceann Comhairle requesting that consideration is given to allowing time for Sinn Féin to make statements to the Dáil in the coming period.
The Irish Times reported that an unnamed Fine Gael activist and “financial expert” audited Sinn Féin’s accounts and made a complaint to SIPO about what they believed were inaccuracies in their filings.
Minister Naughton said that if it is not “creative accounting”, then she “cannot understand why Sinn Féin would not jump at the opportunity” to clear up such serious questions.
“Instead, Sinn Féin appears to reject the notion outright that they should account for their serious inaccuracies in their statutory declarations and audited accounts,” she said.
Minister Naughton added that the opposition party’s ‘thanks but no thanks’ approach to transparency shows they are neither ‘ready nor fit’ to be in Government.
“We will now consider the best way forward on the matter. In the meantime, the offer remains for Mary Lou McDonald and treasurer, Pearse Doherty, to reconsider their position when it comes to transparency.”
