Tánaiste Micheál Martin said he has “confidence” in public spending minister Paschal Donohoe, who is expected to raise an issue related to his spending in the coming days during the 2020 general election.
Mr. Donohoe also recently amended a statement to the Commission on Standards in Public Offices regarding a donation from businessman Michael Stone to the 2016 general election.
In a statement to the Dáil, Donohoe said an inspection “in recent weeks” was the first to warn him that “a personal payment” of €1,100 had been made to workers who posted election posters in 2016.
He admitted he made a “clear mistake” by not including the cost in his campaign expenses, for which he apologized.
The spending was revised on Sunday and passed the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO), he said.
Mr. Martin said he spoke to Mr. Donohoe over the weekend and was “satisfied” with his explanation on the issue of election costs.
Speaking to RTÉ’s This Week, Martin added that he was confident in his role as public expenditure minister.
Of course I have confidence in him,” he said, reports RTE.
He said he did not want to prejudge what Mr Donohoe would say in the Dáil on Tuesday, but that it was an opportunity to answer questions.
“Issue” with healthcare management
Separately, the Tánaiste said there is an “issue with governance and management” within health care.
“On the governance side, we have to work and there is a need to make sure we have consistency and better perhaps capacity in terms of human resource management within the health service,” Mr Martin said, reports RTE.
He also said the government does not anticipate a cliff on cost-of-living support.
However, Mr. Martin emphasized that assessments are made on the use of resources.
“We have to keep a strong eye on next winter because of the likelihood and unfortunate situation that the war is going to continue in Ukraine, there will be a lot of movements to stock up again in terms of gas supplies and so on for the next winter.” he said, reports RTE.
Mr Martin said he has always accepted the unions’ concerns about the NI protocol and believes the European Union has done the same.
“The EU has been very flexible over the last 12 months in seeking to engage with the United Kingdom government to try and resolve issues,” he said, reports RTE.
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