Donohoe’s €100k man helps him answer SF
FINANCE MINISTER Paschal Donohoe’s €101,000-a-year special adviser carried out extensive research on Sinn Féin’s record on housing, banking and corporation tax, newly released records reveal.
Details of the research by leading adviser Ed Brophy on the main Opposition party’s housing policies are revealed in a tranche of department emails obtained under Freedom of Information.
At one stage, Mr Brophy prepared an eight-page briefing detailing Fine Gael’s record on housing and a rebuttal of Sinn Féin.
The briefing included almost three pages of objections made by Sinn Féin to what was claimed to be almost 5,000 different homes in various developments across Dublin in the space of three years.
The department confirmed that the minister’s briefing material on Sinn Féin’s housing record is not the same as research carried out by the Fine Gael party, details of which were published in a newspaper last week.
The ‘rebuttal’ was prepared ahead of Mr Donohoe’s appearance at an Oireachtas committee in May under the title: ‘Housing needs are being met under Fine Gael.’
It said ‘Sinn Féin is for housing in theory, but not in practice,’ adding the party’s preference for largescale social housing developments had failed in the past.
The briefing said the main Opposition party did not want homes built and instead wanted to skew debate by claiming it was cheaper to build homes than was the case.
It said: ‘Sinn Féin’s housing policy is that there is no place for public/ private partnerships and that there should be 100% social housing on public land. This ideology prevents many other groups of people from gaining access to affordable homes.
‘Sinn Féin believes that middleincome earners should not have the same opportunities of home ownership as others.’ The briefing went on to say Sinn Féin had ‘negatively contributed’ to the housing crisis with objections to thousands of homes across Dublin.
‘Sinn Féin representatives preach and practice a far different position than what their social media channels will have you believe,’ it said. The briefing then went on to detail what it said were objections by the party to 3,251 homes across a wide range of developments in the Dublin City Council area.
Mr Brophy also prepared 13 pages of notes on Sinn Féin’s public commentary on the banking sector and Ireland’s controversial corporation tax regime.
An accompanying note said: ‘Notes on public statements by Sinn Féin on both going back a number of years. Could not find a single positive statement on the banks.’
The minister’s advisers also kicked into action after SF finance spokesman Pearse Doherty gave a speech about so-called ‘dual pricing’ in insurance and the UK Financial Conduct Authority in January.
One email said: ‘Pearse is saying that the consultation by the FCA has been completed on 25 Jan. I think he said. What’s the actual position?’
Responding, Mr Brophy said: ‘A rebuttal to all the specific points made in Deputy Doherty’s closing speech would be helpful.’
The adviser also kept the minister up to speed on developments on a school project in his Dublin Central constituency. On March 10, Mr Donohoe’s private office sent a mail to the Department of Education seeking updates on expansion and refurbishment plans for Scoil Chaitríona in Glasnevin.
On April 21, his office was back on to the department for further updates. Eight days later, the department responded to say the school was included in its schoolbuilding programme and a technical site visit had taken place.
When asked about the use of special advisers for research on Sinn Féin, a Finance Department spokesman said: ‘Mr Brophy was a political appointment and was providing the views of the Opposition to the minister regarding issues pertaining to the Department of Finance.’
‘Sinn Féin for housing in theory, not practice’