VARADKAR HAS A FINAL PARTY IN FARMLEIGH
Tánaiste accused of ‘holding on to perks of off ice’
TÁNAISTE Leo Varadkar held a farewell party at the Steward’s Lodge in Farmleigh on Friday evening – as members of his own party questioned his seeming ‘addiction to the trappings of power’.
The revelations come after the news that Mr Varadkar is to retain an aide-decamp – an Army officer who can represent the Dublin West TD at events – and anger at reports that former tánaiste Simon Coveney was seeking to retain his previous right to a Garda driver – a privilege dropped for all but three members of cabinet in 2011.
These are the latest in a series of controversies that have overshadowed the first week of the new Government, including revelations of the drink-driving ban
of new Agriculture Minister Barry Cowen.
The Steward’s Lodge is a residence provided for the use of the Taoiseach, and Mr Varadkar stayed in the Phoenix Park property during the coronavirus lockdown, when he held the office.
Mr Varadkar paid €2,950 for his 59-night stay in the Steward’s Lodge at €50 per night. It is understood he is due to move out when his own Castleknock apartment has been repainted.
However, there is disquiet in Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and, tellingly, Fine Gael about the optics of the establishment of a new layer of privilege for a Government that will undoubtedly soon have to introduce swingeing cutbacks.
In the past, the only political figures who were granted the €200,000-a-year privilege and additional security of a State car and driver were the President, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Justice Minister. The Chief Justice was also given a State car and Garda driver after a government decision in March 2011.
Garda sources have criticised any decision to extend the State car privilege – although sources close to Mr Coveney insisted that no official request had been made for the Foreign Affairs and Defence minister to retain his garda driver perk.
But a Government source confirmed it is possible Mr Coveney may retain his Garda driver and State car.
Last night, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said it was a matter for the Department of Justice and the Garda Commissioner to decide whether he should be allocated round-the-clock garda protection and a driver.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin was appointed Taoiseach last Saturday, after a vote at a special sitting of the Dáil at Dublin’s Convention Centre.
Mr Varadkar has assumed a newly boosted Office of the Tánaiste as part of the deal to make Mr Martin Taoiseach.
As such, the circumstances of the country’s first grand coalition is unprecedented – as no Fine Gael taoiseach has ever subsequently served in a government led by Fianna Fáil.
This has led to an unusual situation, where the Tánaiste is currently staying at the official residence of the Taoiseach, with Mr Martin’s permission. It is at this residence – the Steward’s Lodge, close to the Phoenix Park – that a party was held on Friday.
Mr Varadkar held a ‘lively bash’ for close friends to celebrate one of his last nights at the Taoiseach’s official residence.
High-spirited revellers at the private function hosted by the Fine Gael leader and his cardiologist partner Dr Matt Barrett partied until the early hours.
One witness said: ‘The music went on until about 1am and you could hear the muffled noise of music and people chatting. It was lively.
‘I don’t think the guidelines on having no more than 50 people at an indoor function was broken, but there were a lot of cars parked outside and there were taxis dropping people off. The people looked like their pub mates and not like people who work in Government.’
When a spokesman for the Tánaiste was asked how many people attended the function and who paid the food and drink bill, the former Taoiseach’s adviser said: ‘No catering costs have been incurred by the [Taoiseach’s] Department.’
But a senior Fine Gael government figure told the MoS last night: ‘The Sun King may no longer be king but he has certainly made sure he has hung on to the trappings of Versailles. It’s all very unwise, since
Leo knows better than anybody what is coming down the track. The
Tánaiste itself is a relatively ceremonial position that was invented to keep de Valera’s minions happy. Why in the name of God does he need an aide-de-camp?’
‘There is an element who are so long in ministerial office that they have become addicted to the trappings of power,’ said a Fine Gael source. ‘And someone spends their time in the Taoiseach or Tánaiste’s office... they come to love it too much.’
Another Fine Gael figure said that ministers have been approached by gardaí who are unhappy with plans to grant Mr Coveney a State car.
‘Besides anything else annoying the Gardaí, it was Coveney who first advocated getting rid of the practice of providing a State car to all cabinet ministers,’ said a Fine Gael source. ‘That led to a lot of Gardaí who enjoyed the role being redeployed.’
But Gardaí are unhappy because these plans are a drain on Garda resources that should be allocated to providing squad cars.
‘But now senior Garda management are unhappy because State cars used to come out of a central budget but now they come out of Garda budget.
‘Now, every time you have to buy another car for a minister you drain Garda resources.’
Many Fianna Fáil figures believe that the State car regime should not have been abolished in the first place.
‘There is a strong logic where they should never have got rid of garda protection and drivers for ministers in the first place. We have had ministers blocked inside their homes in the recent past.’
Part of the justification for Mr Coveney getting a car as Foreign Affairs Minister was because he was going to travel to Northern Ireland.
A Garda source said: ‘There have been protocols in place for a long time where, once you cross the border, there is a PSNI protection vehicle provided for a minister anyway.’
‘The people looked like their pub mates, not government’