Sinn Fein repaid £30K Covid support mispayment on Tuesday ... just ahead of major expose on Wednesday

DUP MLA Gary Middleton said that many people would be wondering whether Sinn Fein would returned the money at all, had reporters working for the Nolan Show not exposed the payments.

Known as the Small Business Support Grant programme, the scheme began paying out cash to small firms from late March / early April, and it closed to applications in May.

Constituency offices were among the things which were ineligible for the money.

Sinn Fein said that three of its offices had incorrectly received cash from the scheme, but that the money had since been returned.

Stephen Nolan said yesterday morning that the “key question” lying at the very heart of the whole affair was this: “Did they only pay it back this week [when his show began looking into it]?”

Sinn Fein did not answer directly.

And then yesterday evening, the Department for the Economy confirmed that the money was only handed back in full on Tuesday.

The Department for the Economy said in a statement last night that, when it came to the £10,000 grants: “Two payments were made in error under this category, one to a current elected representative and one to a former elected representative.

“In addition, a payment was made to the office of a political party. All three grants have now been repaid; one received on October 26, and the other two on October 27.”

The Nolan Show said it had spoken to Maoliosa McHugh, Sinn Fein MLA for West Tyrone, who indicated the west Tyrone party branch had received some of the money.

The show also indicated that another of the £10,000 payment was in connection with the work of Sinn Fein’s Elisha McCallion.

It is not clear which office or individual the third £10,000 payment went to.

One of the particularly bizarre things about the affair is that Elisha McCallion is not actually a councillor, MLA, or an MP anymore.

She did hold all three posts at various times in the last several years, but lost her Westminster seat last November, ending her stint in Northern Irish politics (at least for now).

But this means that she has no need for any constituency office anywhere in the Province – raising questions about why she was sent the cash in the first place.

She is a member of the Irish Senate, but her constituency address is listed as being Leinster House, Dublin.

In a statement yesterday, Sinn Fein said: “Three Sinn Fein offices received automatic and unsolicited payments of £10,000 under the Small Business Grant Scheme.

“Sinn Féin offices did not qualify and did not apply for the scheme and the monies have been returned to the Land and Property Services.”

This did not address exactly when it was given the grants, or when it gave them back.

The scheme which handed out the cash is one of a number announced in mid-March by chancellor Rishi Sunak after the coronavirus crisis began to bite.

By October 16, just over 24,600 small businesses had been given the grant in NI.

Although the application deadline was May, some businesses which were turned down could still appeal right up to this month.

While most of the £10,000 grants were given to firms which had actively applied for them, the government said a certain numbers of grants (it is not clear how many) were “issued automatically” to firms whose records it already held.

The DUP issued a statement from its Foyle MLA Gary Middleton, saying: “The public are rightly questioning whether the cash would have been returned at all had media spotlight not been shone in their direction.

“At a time when many businesses are fighting to survive the integrity of the public purse is of paramount importance.”

He also said that the DUP is tabling written questions to try to get to the bottom of what happened, and that it is asking the Assembly standards commissioner to look into MLA Mailiosa McHugh’s handling of the affair.

Jim Allister of the TUV likewise said that he was asking the standards commissioner to investigate, adding that “at a time when many, including many of Sinn Féin’s constituency, are struggling to cope – and yet the richest party in Ireland thinks it appropriate to retain for months public money it knew it ought never to have received”.

The Department for the Economy’s statement last night defended its handling of the £10,000 coronavirus grant scheme, saying: “The Department is content that it took the necessary, swift action to support tens of thousands of businesses facing serious difficulties, or failure, caused by the Covid-19 crisis...

“There was always the potential that a small number of businesses would receive the support but would not require it.

“The Executive was aware of this risk.”

It added that only around 452 out of the more than 24,600 payments had gone “to those who may not be eligible for funding”.

It added: “This is less than 2% of the overall number of payments processed.

“Over 70 of the 452 have already been paid back and work is under way to recover all ineligible payments.”

It pointed to the “scale of the challenge presented by the pandemic, and the unprecedented speed and scale of the Executive’s response”, saying that it had run 34 different initiatives to support businesses.

“As a result of this action, tens of thousands of businesses have been assisted and jobs saved,” it added.