Social Democrats criticised for 'quietly' readmitting suspended TD Eoin Hayes
Mr Hayes was allowed to rejoin the Social Democrats parliamentary party yesterday after nearly eight months sitting as an independent TD.
He had been suspended weeks after his election last November, when it emerged that he had provided incorrect information to the media about the sale of shares in his former employer, Palantir Technologies.
The company has a number of IT contracts with Israel and the US military.
Today, People Before Profit accused the Social Democrats of 'cynically' announcing his readmission late on a Friday evening during the Dáil recess in order to minimise scrutiny.
'Eoin Hayes was rightly suspended in December after it was revealed he had profited to the tune of nearly €200,000 from shares in Palantir, a company deeply embedded in the Israeli war machine for close to its entire existence as a company,' it said in a statement.
The party claimed that the Social Democrats had offered 'no transparency' on the matter since the suspension of Mr Hayes, accusing it of prioritising Dáil seats and opinion polls above ethical standards and public trust.
'This is not just a political scandal, it is a direct contradiction of the values the Social Democrats claim to stand for,' the People Before Profit statement read.
'Since their foundation 10 years ago, they have positioned themselves as the party of integrity and higher standards in public life, claiming to be an alternative to the corruption and cynicism of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
'For many voters and members, that commitment to honesty and transparency has been central to their appeal. The handling of the Hayes affair will come as a real disappointment to many of those supporters, and rightly so.'
People Before Profit welcomed the announcement that Mr Hayes would donate a sum of money to Palestinian charities, but added that there were still questions to answer about his actions.
'This whole situation raises serious questions, not just about Eoin Hayes' judgment, but about the standards the Social Democrats are willing to accept,' said Cllr Conor Reddy of People Before Profit.
The statement noted that the party had called on Mr Hayes to resign last December, and reiterated that call following his readmission to the Social Democrats.
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