The Northern Ireland Assembly has published a review into the use of allowances by Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).
The Assembly’s Chief Executive, Lesley Hogg, asked the Head of Legal Services, Jonathan McMillen, to carry out the review following the scandals surrounding former Sinn Féin press officer Michael McMonagle.
McMonagle, who worked for Michelle O’Neill MLA, Orthlaith Begley MP and Jemma Dolan MLA, was jailed for child sex offences in November 2024.
Because he was employed by Assembly members, he was being paid using money from the public purse. The report says: “Members are entitled to recover the costs of employing individuals to assist them ‘in connection with their role as Members’.”
“Sinn Féin ought to have known that Mr McMonagle was contracted to work for around eighty hours a week in the period March – May 2020,” the report said.
In a letter from the Assembly Chief Executive to MLAs, she said: “A key finding of the review is that it is likely that one of the individuals, Mr Michael McMonagle, misrepresented details of his employments to his employers.”
“While the review found no evidence to suggest that the recovery of staff costs associated with the employment of Mr McMonagle by the relevant Members was not in compliance with the Determination, the likely misrepresentation of his employments by Mr McMonagle may have resulted in a misuse of public money.”
Lesley Hogg also confirmed that she had reported the potential misuse of public money to the Department of Finance, the Comptroller and Audit General, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
The review also stated that now First Minister Michelle O’Neill “is unlikely to have been aware of all the employment contracts to which Mr McMonagle was subject at that time, and is unlikely have become aware of those contracts during his employment with her”.
