IAN Paisley Jnr has welcomed the decision by the Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges to clear him of any wrongdoing over his purchase of a property from developer Seymour Sweeney.
The former junior minister said the committee's finding had cleared his reputation.
The committee was called in to look at the matter after a complaint from north Antrim TUV member Lyle Cubitt.
Mr Cubitt's complaint was based on the claim that Mr
Paisley and his wife purchased the property for less than was paid for another in the same development sold on the same day.
The former junior minister and his wife paid £114,500 for his end of terrace home at Ballyallaght, Bushmills, at the same time as another couple who purchased for £3,000 more, despite having a smaller property.
Mr Cubitt had alleged Mr Paisley had a close relationship with the developer and lobbied for him over a number of years.
"Prima facie this would seem like a partial gift and accordingly I would request that the matter be referred to the Committee on Standards and Privilege," he said.
The committee dismissed the complaints after noting that other units in the development also sold for varying prices – some for less than that paid by Mr Paisley.
It said: "Having gathered the further information and evaluated the complaint, the interim commissioner Tom Frawley concluded that on the basis of the information available to him Mr Paisley Jnr did not have a registrable interest in respect of the purchase of this property.
"The committee agrees with this conclusion and the complaint is therefore not upheld."
It also said that the estate agent involved considered the price paid by Mr Paisley Jnr was fair at the time of the sale in May 2004.
Mr Paisley said he had been
vindicated by the cross-party committee.
He said: "Although I was surprised and somewhat disappointed that these complaints had been lodged with the committee in the first place, I am obviously very satisfied to have received this total vindication of my stance from the outset and of my reputation."
Mr Paisley said he would now be pursuing legal action over the claims.
The DUP MLA has faced a series of questions about his dealings with Mr Sweeney.
It emerged that he had gone lobster fishing with the private developer who became embroiled in another controversy over his plan to develop a visitor centre at the Giant's Causeway.
Mr Paisley has also confirmed in the past that he and his father had lobbied in 2005 for a drift net licence on behalf of a fisherman whose crew included Mr Sweeney and two of his relatives.
