Kevin Doyle

‘Upset egos not on my mind during storm work’: Varadkar

LEO VARADKAR slapped down Brendan Howlin’s complaint that he wasn’t invited to accompany the Taoiseach on a trip to a storm-damaged area.

Mr Varadkar told the Labour Party leader: “Upsetting the egos of politicians has not been on my mind for the last few days.”

The Taoiseach was in Mr Howlin’s home county of Wexford surveying the clean-up, meeting emergency services and getting a briefing on the operation to open roads.

Mr Howlin praised the “heroic effort” of people in the storm, saying the impact on the east coast had been “extraordinary”.

“Communities have pulled and pushed and shoved together. Stories of the snow will not be forgotten for decades. It shows the best of us in the worst of circumstances,” he said.

Mr Varadkar noted that he had been in the Labour TD’s own Wexford constituency to meet with emergency crews.

The statement prompted Mr Howlin to complain that he wasn’t invited. He said that in past incidents local representatives were invited to such events as “a matter of courtesy”.

Mr Varadkar replied: “I probably didn’t because it was the last thing on my mind. Upsetting the egos of politicians has not been on my mind for the last few days…I do genuinely apologise to the deputy if his dignity was offended if he wasn’t invited to an ambulance base a few hundred metres from his constituency office.”

On the issue of advice to employers raised by Mr Howlin, Mr Varadkar said a report is being compiled but a “one size fits all” approach won’t work.

The Taoiseach said if hotels had been ordered to send staff home it would have resulted in tourists being stranded.

“It isn’t as simple as offering a blanket instruction to employers. A blanket ban saying all hotels should close, imagine the effect that would have had,” he said.