Leo disclosed IMO deal to rival doctors
I regret what I did but did not break the law, says the Tánaiste
TÁNAISTE Leo Varadkar has admitted he gave a confidential Government document on a GP pay deal with the Irish Medical Organisation to a rival group of doctors.
Coalition partner the Green Party yesterday called on the Tánaiste to give a ‘full and detailed account to the Dáil’ in the next few days while TD Jim O’Callaghan of Fianna Fáil said he must deal with the ‘serious and specific allegation’.
Village Magazine reported yesterday that Mr Varadkar, when he was Taoiseach, sent a prominent member of the National Association of General Practitioners a copy of a document marked ‘confidential’, which outlined a proposed new GP contract the Government had agreed with the IMO.
In a statement, the Tánaiste has admitted that he did provide a copy to Dr Maitiú Ó Tuathail, ‘on a date between 11th and 16th April 2019’. However, he claimed that the general details of the agreement had been aired publicly since it was announced on April 5, last year.
His statement – issued through the Fine Gael Press Office – said: ‘Village Magazine has published an article, in its current edition, which is both inaccurate and grossly defamatory. The Tánaiste has sought legal advice on the content of the article.’
And he insisted that he broke no law, as the Official Secrets Act excludes Oireachtas members from its provisions. Neither did he break the Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Act 2018, he said, as he had not sought to ‘corruptly obtain a gift, consideration or advantage for himself or for any other person’. Mr Varadkar said that he had hoped to use Dr Ó Tuathail’s influence to encourage all GPs to accept the agreement, including those represented by NAGP.
‘The Tánaiste accepts that the provision of the agreement by an informal communication channel to the president of the NAGP was not best practice and he regrets that he did not ensure that it was provided in a more appropriately formal manner,’ his statement released yesterday added.
A Green Party spokesperson said: ‘The Green Party notes the statement from the Tánaiste following the revelations in Village Magazine. The party is calling on the Tánaiste to give a full and detailed account to the Dáil on the issue and to allow sufficient time for the statement followed by questioning.
It is clear from what has been revealed that the passing on of sensitive information in this manner was not appropriate.
‘The timelines and the full impact of the disclosure on all involved needs further scrutiny’.
Labour enterprise spokesman Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said: ‘The
Tánai stem u st commit to answering questions in the Dáil on Tuesday. His carefully worded statement is padded out with information that is not related to the matter at hand. There are serious issues that he must address.’
And in the wake of the Tánaiste’s statement, Village Magazine editor Michael Smith said: ‘We stand over our story.’ He added: ‘Mr Varadkar’s statement provokes dramatically more questions than it answers.’ The Tánaiste is likely to face a turbulent week, after the senior counsel and Fianna Fáil backbencher Jim O’Callaghan said there is a ‘serious and specific allegation’ made about the ‘disclosure of a confidential Government document’, and the Tánaiste, ‘should make a statement responding to the allegation and clarifying the situation’.
Sinn Féin business spokeswoman Louise O’Reilly said the allegations were ‘extremely serious’.
The Social Democrats said that the party viewed with ‘extreme concern, allegations made in the current edition of the Village Magazine concerning the Tánaiste’.
Mr Varadkar consulted the Taoiseach Micheál Martin and reportedly took legal advice ahead of making his statement.
Commenting on the issue, one senior minister said: ‘No matter what is said, it just contributes to the impression that we are jinxed.’
A search of the Dáil records shows that on April 16, in a Dáil debate, then Fianna Fáil health spokesman, now Health Minister, Stephen Donnelly said: ‘It is good to get the detail but I find this exercise very frustrating.
‘The outline of the deal was agreed about two weeks ago. The GPs have not seen it, the public have not seen it, and we have not seen it. We are being given pages of facts and figures now.
‘We have not seen them before. I have asked the department for them and I have asked the HSE. We have been denied access to any of the detail. We are sort of expected to stand up here now and respond.
‘Must commit to answering the Dáil’
‘There is a serious and specific allegation’
The members present are the health spokespeople, by and large, and they should have had the information ahead of time so they could give a reasoned response. I am not accusing the minister – I have no evidence – but this is controlling the message. We should have had this information days in advance. In fact, we should have had it the day after it was agreed with the IMO.’
In the same debate, then Labour health spokesman – now the party leader – Alan Kelly said: ‘In fairness, I do not want to rain on the minister’s parade. He has enough issues with which to deal.
‘I do not know why we are having this debate tonight. It would have been time enough to have it at a later date because the information is only coming through. We are having to analyse it and go through it now. I would like to have had time to talk to many of the GPs who I have worked with over the years to go through some of this.’