During a “private meeting” with Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, Paschal Donohoe claimed to have covered his own lunch expenses, reports Breaking News.
The opposition has questioned the Public Expenditure Minister’s previously undisclosed February 2022 meeting with the airline boss.
Pearse Doherty, the finance spokesperson for Sinn Féin, stated that Mr. Donohoe needed to “come clean” during the meeting and accused Fine Gael of being unaccountable and opaque, reports Breaking News.
When first questioned about the minister’s meetings with Mr. O’Leary, Mr. Doherty claimed that the minister had not mentioned the dinner meeting. He said that once reporters arrived with further details, he later admitted the encounter.
He said: “Paschal Donohoe is the Minister for Public Expenditure and Michael O’Leary is a business figure who is regularly seeking to influence government policy. It is important for the Irish people to know whose interests their government really serves,” reports Breaking News.
“We have now been told by Fine Gael that no records were kept of the meeting as no actions were taken arising from it. That’s not good enough,” reports Breaking News.
Mr Donohoe said on Friday: “Any matter that ever refers to government business is dealt with in the right way. Any meeting that I have with anybody that refers to Government business is recorded and it’s published in my diary,” reports Breaking News.
At the time of the meal, Mr. Donohoe was the Finance Minister and had been the Eurogroup president for eighteen months.
He said, “Yes, it is,” when asked if, considering his responsibilities at the time, it was appropriate to have a purely social meeting with the CEO of the largest airline in Europe, reports Breaking News.
When asked if the two men discussed anything other than official business or policy, Mr. Donohoe responded, “We talked about very general matters.”
Mr. Donohoe stated that guests “paid their fair share” and that he would not characterise himself as “friends” with Mr. O’Leary.
During the Mullingar campaign launch of Enterprise Minister Peter Burke, the Ryanair CEO seemed to disparage educators, reports Breaking News.
Senior Fine Gael leaders, like as Taoiseach Simon Harris, and Mr. Burke praised Mr. O’Leary’s backing but took issue with his comments on teachers.
Mr Doherty added: “It would be instructive for the public to know just how much influence Michael O’Leary has with Fine Gael and, by extension, over decisions made by that party in government,” reports Breaking News.
At the introduction of Fine Gael’s electoral proposals for Dublin and other cities, Mr. Donohoe was addressing the media.
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