Fianna Fáil’s finance director told the Standards Commission (SIPO) that Taoiseach Micheal Martin was not to blame for wrongly accepting a €1,000 donation from his own party.
David Burke wrote to SIPO to say that Mr Martin had followed his advice at all times asking if this could be taken note of by the commission.
Records obtained under FOI reveal how Fianna Fáil told the Commission they had an “exemplary record” on compliance with electoral law over the past ten years.
However, they said they regretted the “unintended oversight” of having allowed the Taoiseach and Senator Malcolm Byrne to accept donations of €1,000 and €2,900 from the party which were not allowed.
Under electoral legislation, if a party wants to contribute to a member of their party, they are first supposed to register as a corporate donor.
However, two of the government parties – Fianna Fáil and the Green Party – did not do this and were subsequently asked to return donations that had been made to a number of members.