The ethics watchdog was told too much time had passed to pursue action over more than €1,000 worth of undeclared election expenses by Minister Paschal Donohoe.
The Minister for Public Expenditure had to make amendments to his electoral statements because of postering work carried out on his behalf by the businessman Michael Stone.
However, it has now emerged that the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) could not follow up on undeclared donations from the 2016 election.
Previously unreleased internal briefings said that a prosecution under the Electoral Act could not take place more than five years after an offence was alleged to have happened.
An internal briefing said: “As such, several potential offences relating to the 2016 election are statute barred.”
It said however that similar undeclared donations from the 2020 general election – again relating to postering work by Mr Stone – could be pursued.
The briefing said these could be “prosecuted on indictment” but would have to be brought through the courts and proven “beyond reasonable doubt.”
A second course of action was detailed where the undeclared donations would be dealt with by way of complaint to SIPO.
The briefing document said: “The Commission previously received legal advice that it could carry out a similar information-gathering exercise using implied powers to ensure constitutional procedural fairness.”
It also advised there were “more limited grounds” available where SIPO could decline to investigate a complaint.
This included a scenario where the subject matter “is not, in the opinion of the Commission, of sufficient gravity to warrant investigation.”
Mr Donohoe was later informed by SIPO no further action would be taken and that amendment of his election returns was consistent with their approach to compliance.
During the period in which the investigation took place, Mr Donohoe had to recuse himself from ministerial duties relating to the Standards Commission.
The briefing documents were only released by SIPO under FOI laws following an appeal to the Information Commissioner.
However, they provide no significant clarity on how the decision was made not to go ahead with action over the undeclared donations.
The postering work came to light following a complaint by the journalist Liam Deegan.
It led to the disclosure by Mr Donohoe that a commercial van was used during his election campaign in 2016.
This was provided along with the labour of six individuals and was later said by the minister to have a value of €1,057.
At the time, Mr Donohoe said: “I always hold myself to the very highest of professional standards and I profoundly regret that this matter wasn’t dealt with correctly in 2016.
“In light of the information that’s now available to me, I’ve taken the steps to address the issue as comprehensively as I can.”
It also emerged that further undeclared work was carried out on behalf of Minister Donohoe during the 2020 general election.
A SIPO briefing said: “In a statement by [businessman] Michael Stone on 24 January 2023, he claims that he previously incorrectly informed the Minister that he had not provided any assistance regarding the 2020 general election. However, having re-examined the matter he realised this was incorrect.”
Another amended electoral statement was submitted by Minister Donohoe and Fine Gael to include €1,256.20 extra for the “erection of some posters.”
Asked about the investigation and their refusal to release documents about it, SIPO said they had no comment.
A spokesperson said: “It is the practice of the Standards in Public Office Commission not to comment on individual compliance matters.”
A statement from Minister Donohoe and the Department of Public Expenditure said they had nothing further to add and that SIPO was “independent in the performance of its functions.”