Mattie McGrath Challenges Minister Over Daytime Poster Photos
Mattie McGrath challenged the minister over photographs showing men erecting election posters in daylight and raised questions about potential links between campaign contractors and government work with the Department of Social Protection. He also criticised the minister's handling of a SIPPO complaint and asked whether the Taoiseach was informed before a reappointment.
Photographs and timing
McGrath presented photographs he said showed six men in daylight putting up posters, contradicting the minister's claim that the activity occurred "on the darkness." He questioned descriptions of the scene, the number of men and vans involved, and described the official account as lacking credibility.
Alleged contractor overlaps
He alleged the designer group erecting the posters was simultaneously working on substantial government contracts for the Department of Social Protection and asked whether the crew who rigged and derigged posters over several weeks may have been contracted to both tasks at the same time instead of solely doing campaign work.
Appointments and Mr. Stone
McGrath raised the appointment of Mr. Stone to the Land Development Agency board and the North Intercity Task Force, noting comments that Mr. Stone does not take a fee for his LDA role. He argued that a property developer sitting on a civil agency board with a large budget could be "in the know" and part of a "golden circle," and said that presented problems.
SIPPO complaint and disclosure
He questioned whether the minister informed the Taoiseach and his entourage about an ongoing SIPPO complaint prior to being reappointed. McGrath said he had deliberately not acted on information while SIPPO investigated and noted the minister had recused himself from dealing with the inquiry.
Campaign rules and poster costs
McGrath pointed to figures submitted to SIPPO showing poster costs in other constituencies and suggested the minister's reported costs did not align. He argued that companies doing posters must be declared under the rules and criticised apparent preparedness and use of paid teams during the sudden election.
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Minister, I'd ask you just to come clean on this, because you did say on Sunday and I heard you myself that this was all done on the darkness, I have photographs here supplied to me, there was broad daylight thankfully, and six men well clad in jackets, all they're missing is a Pascal Donoghue, number one, label on their jackets, they didn't have that, it was not obvious in the photographs, so obviously they were hiding something, Minister, you must surely have been aware that the designer group were working on substantial government contracts for the Department of Social Protection, at the time, and they were engaged in erecting election posters for you, did you not question whether the crew who rigged and derigged the posters over several weeks may have been contracted to work on a government contract at the same time instead of jogging around putting down posters, and it could quite easily happen, and I would ask what the three vans mentioned somewhere, because two men in a van are fine, but six men in a van first of all, they had the capacity to travel in it, and second of all, they needed a van for each two, so it's really beyond stretch of credibility that we would have expected to believe this cock and a bull story, that they were around there just taking photographs and hanging around, will you accept that you were a member of the Government that appointed Mr. Stone to the Land Development Agency Board and the North Intercity Task Force? It has been said that said gentleman does not take a fee, and we appreciate that for his LDA role. Nonetheless, as a property developer, sitting on a board of a civil agency, with an annual budget of £2.5 billion, it's nice to be in the know, and to be in the golden circle, and this is where I see the problems are. So, Minister, there are huge issues here, and then you were the Minister in charge of SIPPO. You had a chance in November. I have this information, actually, since a week before the Taoiseach change office. Did you inform the Taoiseach, the now Taoiseach, the entourished of this issue ongoing, and the complaint against you in SIPPO before he re-appointed you as Minister for the Rothering Chair, as a swap over, and there were a number of questions like that from the political judgment. Mr. Stone would be the least you would expect that you would have done, and at least I'm sure he would expect or demand from you. So, there are so many questions, and it's really not answered, and you want a time plan from here. I deliberately didn't do anything with the information, because there was a complaint investigating SIPPO, and that could be made against any of us at any time, and they're there to do their job, and we must give them all the powers that they need, and pressure, or assistance that they need. But I, especially, you know, the imagination now to see that you're going to answer questions in the morning, regarding SIPPO, you have recused yourself from dealing with issues of why the investigation is going on, but this has to be fascinating, fascinating in the extreme, that you take questions in the morning, Minister McGrath, otherwise I'm engaged in Davos, or coming and going from that great big party, so you miss out on it, maybe this year. We're hoping to get there next year, which are well-heeled friends, but this is very serious. This reminds us back of the checks that have been done, hey big fella, they built houses or built whatever. We thought we'd moved on from that, and we should have moved on from that, and we must have moved on from that. We saw figures from other constituencies of TDs in the same constituency, and how they, their costs for posters, that are furnished to SIPPO in the complaint. And they don't come anywhere near the value of the money that you've got. So it must be magic erection and taking down our posters, because we all know, someone has to do it myself and with our family and friends and whatever, and we all know you can't have companies doing it for you. Especially if they're not declared, because that's the simple rules of engagement. We all know that you had so many posts in that election, and most people have struggled because it was kind of a sudden election, but you were all ready to go. You don't mean to have friends in good places, and then your teams are men out by day, and you said on Sunday it was night. But my photographs here sent a nice sunny sky over Dublin Central, and I'm sure that's the first thing you can correct the record on. It was happening during the day. They were obviously being paid by their, or engaged by their employer, and if they weren't working for their employer, who were they working for? Or were they working, you know, nothing against them, and they were doing what they were told. But you never know when someone, they might start singing. They don't want to be the pigeon students here, and they're people we have to respect too, and in their jobs, they're fulfilling their role and their orders. And often we say, break your boss before you break his orders, but this one, I think, has a long way to run if you don't answer these questions and answer them, honestly. Thank you, Deputy. Deputy Thomas Pringle. Sportsman 1.
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