THE STANDARDS IN Public Office (Sipo) Commission has decided against conducting a formal investigation into former junior minister Damien English after he admitted that his handling of a planning application was “not up to the standard required”.

The Fine Gael TD resigned his position as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment after revelations about a planning application he submitted in 2008.

The Ditch news website reported that English had not declared his ownership of a residential property for more than a decade.

Following the report, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy submitted a complaint to Sipo and requested that the commission investigate the incident.

However, Sipo has decided that it does not intend to pursue an investigation.

In a letter seen by The Journal from Sipo to Murphy in response to his complaint, a Sipo official wrote that the complaint was considered at a meeting of the commission.

“Following inquiries by the Secretariat to the Commission, the Commission noted that Deputy English had completed his annual declarations in line with the Commission’s Guidelines on Compliance with the Provisions of the Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001,” the letter said.

“Therefore, the Commission was of the view that the complaint was not of sufficient gravity to warrant investigation in accordance with section 4(5) of the 2001 Act. The Commission accordingly closed the complaint and no further action will be taken on this matter.”

Murphy has said he considers the decision not to investigate to be a “real shame” given that English was “forced to resign as a result” of the failure to declare the property.

“If Sipo will not investigate something as clear cut as that, what will they investigate?” Murphy asked.

“We clearly need a properly empowered and resourced ethics watchdog.”

At the time of his resignation from his ministerial role, English said that an online article raised questions about his planning application. 

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“I reviewed this application, made in 2008, and it is clear to me that I failed to inform Meath County Council about ownership of my house in Castlemartin,” he said.

“This was wrong, not up to the standard required and I apologise for doing so.

“I would like to thank the people of Meath West for their ongoing support as their TD. I will continue to serve them and work hard on their behalf in the constituency.”

English said he would “continue to support the Taoiseach and colleagues in Government as they continue to deliver on the programme for Government”.