THE Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, is refusing to apologise for sending out invitations to a £100 a head Fine Gael dinner on official Government notepaper, despite a colleague's expectations that he would do so.
The Minister for Trade and Tourism, Mr Kenny, said yesterday it was perfectly legitimate for Ministers to raise money for constituency and party purposes but letters should go out on party political notepaper, not Government headed notepaper. The Minister for Finance had apologised for using headed notepaper and he expected "that Michael Noonan will do the same".
A spokeswoman for Mr Noonan said later yesterday that no apology would be forthcoming. The Minister maintained the position, she stated, that all correspondence from the Minister for Health was issued on Department of Health notepaper because Michael Noonan TD is the Minister for Health".
A spokeswoman for Mr Kenny told The Irish Times the Minister was expressing a personal view about an apology. He had no further comment.
In Mr Noonan's letter, bearing the harp emblem and headed "Office of the Minister" and "Department of Health", he says he is hosting a dinner, on behalf of the Fine Gael party, for the Taoiseach in the Limerick Inn on March 22nd. Tickets will cost £1,000 for a table of 10 or £100 each and receipts will be credited to Fine Gael.
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