The Taoiseach's public acknowledgement that both the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey and the Minister of State for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Frank Fahey, breached the Code of Conduct for office holders was clearly designed to defuse the controversies before the June elections.
It reflected his energetic disciplinary response to Ms Beverley Flynn. In accepting that Mr Dempsey had broken the rules, however, Mr Ahern not only changed his mind for the second time in a week but gave offence to a Minister who was still pleading his innocence. Mr Dempsey initially appeared to challenge Mr Ahern's assessment before cravenly acknowledging, in a subsequent television interview, the Taoiseach's right to comment on the issue.
In recent years, a succession of court judgments have made it clear that elected representatives and their parties should not benefit at election time from their positions in government. The use of ministerial facilities is regarded as a benefit-in-kind. As a former minister for the environment and Fianna Fáil director of elections who legislated for political spending limits, Mr Dempsey would have been well aware of those restrictions.
The Taoiseach initially acknowledged that what had been done was "unusual" and required investigation. But, within days, he defended Mr Dempsey's actions. Then, last Wednesday in the Dáil, as the Standards in Public Office Commission prepared to become involved, he accepted the rules had been broken.
As Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey used public funds and facilities for the exclusive benefit of Fianna Fáil candidates. His ministerial office was instructed to provide briefing material for Fianna Fáil candidates in all local authority areas on the funding of schools and the provision of special needs teachers. Up to 600 candidates may have been given material that was collected, collated and printed as special briefing packs by civil servants within his Department. The cost to the taxpayer is unknown.
Mr Fahey sent invitations to a Fianna Fáil fund-raising event on Government-headed notepaper. He believed that the practice was acceptable because the material was processed through his constituency office in Galway. He has since acknowledged his error.
In his own defence, Mr Dempsey insisted the material had been freely available in his Department to all political parties. But that was not so. Confidential details concerning special needs teachers were provided to Fianna Fáil councillors even before the Minister had made a public announcement on the matter. The Taoiseach also ignored this issue and held it was the packaging, rather than the content, of the briefing documents that broke the rules.
An early report by the Standards in Public Office Commission, setting out exactly what ministers may or may not do at election time, would be of considerable benefit to all concerned.