The Green Party today confirmed former minister of state for food and agriculture, Trevor Sargent, would donate his ministerial severance payment to charity.
A spokeswoman said the payment had not been received yet but that Mr Sargent had indicated he would give it to the Society of the St Vincent De Paul.
The amount he is likely to receive has not been confirmed, but has been reported to be in the region of €47,000.
Mr Sargent resigned his ministry on Tuesday after it emerged he had unlawfully contacting a garda about a case involving a constituent. In a brief address to the Dáil, Mr Sargent said that while his actions did not constitute a criminal offence, his communication could be deemed not lawful.
Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy said yesterday a chief superintendent had been appointed to head an inquiry into the leak to a newspaper of contacts between Mr Sargent and the garda.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said yesterday he will publish the inquiry’s report as soon as possible and said Opposition claims that he had been responsible for the leak were “a nasty attempt at a smear against me and my party”.
The Minister said he had been briefed yesterday morning by the commissioner, who had taken a preliminary look at the documents involved and would present him with a report when the investigation was completed. “I intend to publish that as soon as possible when I get it and I hope when it’s published those people who smeared me are man enough to go into the Dáil or indeed outside the Dáil and withdraw their smears,” said Mr Ahern.
Mr Sargent also rejected Opposition parties’ claims that he had been “taken out” by Fianna Fáil sources in revenge for the attitude taken by the Green Party to Willie O’Dea, who resigned last week.
He said gardaí were investigating the matter and he was prepared to await the outcome of that inquiry.
It emerged yesterday that Mr Sargent contacted Balbriggan Garda Superintendent, Joe Kelly, last week to air his concerns about the case that lead to his resignation. On Tuesday Mr Sargent said he only remembered details of the case when the Evening Herald published the letter he had written to a garda on behalf of a constituent, Dominic McGowan. In the letter, published by the paper yesterday, Mr Sargent wrote: “I would be grateful if you could keep an eye on this case as I fear for the safety of Mr McGowan, who faces his attacker in court again in the Central Criminal Court this Friday, 19th February, 2010 as a witness to his own attack.”