LAST UPDATE | 18 hrs ago

AENGUS Ó SNODAIGH HAS said he is “shocked and horrified” by the allegations that have emerged at Liberty Recycling.

The TD is chairman of Dublin-based Liberty Recycling, a social enterprise focused on clothes recycling.

The Sinn Féin TD released a statement about the money laundering investigation concerning the charity on Wednesday evening, hours after he was prevented from making a statement to the Dáil on the issue.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on his part and the Dublin TD is not under criminal investigation.

“I am shocked and horrified by the very serious allegations that have emerged,” Ó Snodaigh said.

“I fully support the investigations by An Garda Síochána and the Charities Regulator. The facts must be established and anyone responsible for wrongdoing held accountable.”

He added that he had got involved at the charity some 20 years ago on the back of work in drug addiction services and that his role was entirely voluntary with no remuneration.

Ó Snodaigh’s statement came as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, fellow Sinn Féin TD John Brady, said he would be proposing on Thursday that the watchdog invite the Charities Regulator and the Department of Social Protection to appear before TDs about the case.

Brady said he wanted the meeting to happen as soon as possible so they could address the governance and accountability concerns surrounding Liberty Recycling.

Noting that the charity has received “substantial State funding”, Brady said it is the role of the PAC to interrogate any concerns that have arisen, establish what governance structures were in place at the charity and to examine the Charities Regulator’s and the Department’s oversight of funding to the charity.

Earlier Dáil refusal

Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris had previously said the Dublin South-Central TD should make a statement to the Dáil on the matter.

However, Sinn Féin said earlier on Wednesday that this was “refused”.

The Ceann Comhairle felt unable to accommodate the request due to potential non-compliance with standing orders, relating to the existence of an ongoing garda investigation and associated legal proceedings.

The money laundering investigation by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau resulted in the seizure of luxury cars and goods with a value of about €300,000, and the bank account of the charity being frozen.

On Tuesday and Wednesday last week, gardaí seized two BMW X5s and luxury goods including Rolex watches and Louis Vuitton bags in a number of searches as part of the probe.

The High Court has also appointed a provisional liquidator to the charity.

The Charities Regulator made an application to wind up the charity, Liberties Recycling Training and Development Company Limited.

The regulator said the appointment of a liquidator places executive control of the charity into independent hands “immediately to enable transitional arrangements to be put in place to support the charity’s vulnerable service users and employees”.

As part of its grounds for the application, the regulator said there is “no effective management or oversight of the activities of the charity by its trustees/directors”.

The charity operates out of multiple locations and has a wider management team.

The Oireachtas said standing orders require that personal explanations must be “brief, non-argumentative, strictly personal and shall not be such as would cause debate or give rise to further explanations”.

A further important consideration is that the matter should not be of a nature which will give rise to questions or debate.

It said the matter referred to has not been raised in proceedings of the Dáil and is also closely related to an ongoing garda investigation and to matters which are the subject of legal proceedings.

It said the Ceann Comhairle is also “cognisant of the fact that airing this matter on the floor of the House risks impinging on a live investigation and raising further questions”.

It added: “The Ceann Comhairle is constrained by the strict provisions of the Standing Order and must apply it as set down by the House.

“In this context, the Ceann Comhairle could not consider the matter to be one which meets the requirements of the Standing Order.”

With reporting by Eoghan Dalton