Taoiseach ‘is becoming Trumpian’

THE Taoiseach has been compared to US President Donald Trump over his ‘uninformed’ remarks about legal cases taking ‘much more time’ in Irish courts than in other countries, specifically those related the CervicalCheck scandal.

He also claimed that instead of appointing more judges, legal cases should be managed and dealt with more efficiently.

Mr Varadkar made his remarks over the weekend after a judge dealing with many cervical cancer cases asked for more resources. However, solicitor Cian O’Carroll said last night the remarks were not based on the reality of the situation.

‘The Taoiseach’s remarks are a Donald Trump response… they are based on what you feel and not on the facts. These [court] applications have been dealt with, with incredible speed… I don’t know of any other country in the world where cases of this urgency and complexity would be dealt with in 10 to 12 weeks. To suggest otherwise is uninformed.’

Fianna Fáil Justice spokesman and barrister Jim O’Callaghan said Mr Varadkar’s remarks are ‘un-merited’ and that ‘instead of acceding to the request from the judiciary’ for ‘more judges to deal with the backlog of very serious cases’, Mr Varadkar ‘has attacked them for their alleged inefficient practices’.

He said this is a ‘government that blames the judiciary in order to cover its own failures and criticises them to suit its own political agenda’.