Ian Paisley Jr could return to ministerial office after an inquiry cleared him of accepting a free house from a property developer, Northern Ireland’s former first minister said today.
Mr Paisley Snr said his son had been vindicated and claimed the complaint about the purchase of his Co Antrim house from Seymour Sweeney was motivated by politics.
Ian Paisley Jr said if the report had been completed before he had resigned as a minister, he would not have done so.
Standards watchdog Tom Frawley said there was no evidence to establish a complaint that Mr Paisley Jnr was gifted a house from the Co Antrim developer.
There was controversy last year after it emerged the property in Bushmills was still registered in Mr Sweeney’s wife’s name three years after completion of the deal.
Mr Paisley Snr said: “If somebody putting the worst construction on something can make a man out to be a villain and he clears himself in court then why would he not be made a minister?
“He won the case that was put against him and it was put for deliberate political reasons. I don’t think that the law was intended for that, it was to deal with real cases. There was nothing here against him, he has cleared himself.”
Mr Paisley resigned earlier this year as a junior minister in the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) following a string of attacks about his links with Mr Sweeney.
Today’s report from Interim Commissioner for Standards Mr Frawley said: “No evidence has been identified to substantiate the complaint that Mr Paisley Jnr was enjoying a benefit from a constituent which should have been included in the members’ register of interests.”
The Assembly’s Committee on Standards and Privileges accepted the finding.
The issue was raised by nationalist SDLP Assembly member John Dallat after a newspaper report.
He offered anonymous sources to back up his complaint, which were not accepted by Mr Frawley.
Today Mr Dallat said: “It seemed reasonable to me that when a complaint was brought to me it was reasonable to ask the Ombudsman to investigate.”
A series of failures in the administration associated with the purchase of the property were eventually blamed.
This prompted a three-year delay between completion of the sale and lodgement of documents for registration.
While Mr Paisley had assumed responsibility for repaying the loan to the bank for the property he didn’t have legal title to it.
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Assembly member for North Antrim Mr Paisley Jnr said: “I’m now, I must say, delighted that the Ombudsman has written a report and that the Standards and Privileges Committee at Stormont has accepted that report, and I believe that report exonerates me and clears me.
“If this examination had been completed in February of this year, before I resigned, I would not have resigned as a minister.”
He criticised the decision to investigate in a letter to the Ombudsman.
“It is both childish and degrading - not for me, as I have nothing to hide - but for a parliament that claims to be occupied by those who claim to be fit to govern the people of Northern Ireland.
“John Dallat and those who are pursuing this matter along with him are letting not just themselves down but also those who claim to be fit to govern the people of Northern Ireland.”
SDLP committee chairwoman Carmel Hanna said members had reached the conclusion that the complaint cannot be substantiated.
“However, this case does highlight that public representatives must ensure that when conducting their business they leave no room for doubt as to the probity of their conduct.”
PA