SINN FÉIN FINANCE spokesperson Pearse Doherty has accused Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil of closing ranks to block a bid to call former finance minister Paschal Donohoe to answer questions about an extra €10 million he sent to the World Bank before taking up a job there. 

“This is not over,” Doherty said in a statement this morning, while promising to use “all means to get answers that the public deserve”.

The revelation that Donohoe decided to give €10 million more to the World Bank that the bank itself had recommended was first reported by the Irish Daily Mail on Saturday and led opposition politicians to demand answers about how the decision was made. 

Yesterday, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee called the outrage over the revelation “absolute nonsense” and a “political stunt”. 

Yesterday evening, the government parties defeated a vote called by Doherty on a proposal that would have compelled Donohoe to appear before the Oireachtas Finance Committee. 

“The arrogance they showed today is shocking. They think they can do whatever they want with public money and be accountable to no one,” Doherty said. 

“This is public money and it is the job of the Finance Committee to scrutinise decisions like this. The public have a right to know why this unusual funding decision was made and on whose advice.

He said government ministers “have been all over the place on this matter throughout the week and have put incorrect information on the public record”. 

“The amount paid was not the ‘low option’ that was recommended but exceeded it by €10million.”

“For government to adopt such tactics to prevent an Oireachtas Committee from doing its job is extremely serious and only raises more questions about what they are trying to hide. It is telling that they even tried to block the Committee getting access to all the relevant documentation,” Doherty said.