Following an incident with RTÉ political correspondent Una Claffey in the Dáil bar in 1991, O'Keeffe apologised and said he had no option to resign but was persuaded to stay in order to prevent the government losing its majority.
[5] When Bertie Ahern became party leader in 1994, O'Keeffe was appointed deputy Spokesperson on Enterprise and Employment, with responsibility for Commerce, Science, Technology and Small Business.
[6] He resigned as a minister of state in February 2001 after it emerged that he had voted on a Dáil motion without declaring that he had a beneficial interest in the subject matter.
[7][5] On 28 November 2007, O'Keeffe resigned the Fianna Fáil party whip as he refused to support a motion of confidence in the Minister for Health and Children Mary Harney.
[12] He was held for a number of hours at Cobh Garda station under section 26 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.
Both Kevin and his other son, Ciarán, a solicitor based in Mitchelstown, sought to be added to the Fianna Fáil party ticket for Cork East in 2015.