Varadkar welcomes closure on GP agreement leak affair
' Leo Of The Of The Was To Varadkar: Nagp And Public Lawful Sam Boal/rollingnews Tánaiste Did President Interest Picture: I The In Document Ie 'my Disclosure So The
The Tánaiste has accepted that his leaking of a confidential document to a friend was inappropriate but says that allegations made against him "were false".
Leo Varadkar was informed on Wednesday that the DPP would not be pressing charges over the leaking of the pay deal between the Government and the Irish Medical Organisation to a rival union. The National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP) was at the time headed by Dr Maitiú Ó Tuathail, someone Mr Varadkar says was a friend, but not a close one.
The DPP's decision clears the way for Mr Varadkar to become taoiseach once more in December. Within Fine Gael, there was little surprise at the move, although sources did say that it was "good to put it in the rear view".
Sources in the other two coalition partners said that it ensured that Mr Varadkar would become taoiseach with their votes.
In a longer statement issued today, the Tánaiste says that the passing of the document was "no more than error" and was not illegal.
He said the DPP decision followed "a thorough and meticulous investigation carried out by An Garda Síochána involving dozens of interviews and the examination of multiple documents and devices".
"My disclosure of the document to the president of the NAGP was lawful and I did so in the public interest. I was determined to secure that organisation’s support for the agreement we had reached with another organisation on behalf of general practitioners," he said.
"I have been held to account for those actions in the Dáil. I have apologised for it and I want to do so again."
"However, the allegations made against me, that it was anything more than error, were false. They were made by sworn political opponents of me and my party.
"I know that I did not break any law, do anything corrupt or even self-interested. That is now clear to any fair-minded person."
The Tánaiste's statement adds that "those who made these allegations went to extraordinary lengths to publicise them".
"Their actions were politically motivated and often highly personalised at times," he said.
"It is now a matter of public record that at least one of those persons was subject to investigation in respect of their own conduct in this affair."
The statement goes on to "clarify" points, namely:
- "The document was as it was entitled — ‘An agreement on service delivery and contractual reform’. It was not a contract. The use of the term ‘contract’ was deliberately used to create the impression that I had interfered in some sort of competition or tender process, or conferred an advantage on somebody in doing so. This was emphatically not the case.
- The document was not classified and did not go to Cabinet. Therefore, I could not have breached Cabinet confidentiality which some have claimed. While the document was marked confidential on the day it was generated, by the time I disclosed it almost two weeks later, the contents were largely in the public domain.
- The document was not a pay deal. The State cannot enter into pay deals with self-employed contractors. There was a revised fee schedule issued by the Minister following consultations. That was released and made public long before I disclosed the document.
- It has been suggested that I was investigated for a data protection offence. This was never the case. No personal data was involved.
- It was suggested that a complaint was made against me by a health official. This was not the case nor did anyone ever come forward to say they were a victim of a crime."
Mr Varadkar reiterated his thanks to Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, and his party, and said that politicians do not get due process.
"I am very grateful that — because of them [Mr Martin and Mr Ryan] — I was. It is something I will reflect on further.
"I also want to thank my legal advisers. I have a greater understanding now of the importance of legal representation and advice.
"I look forward to continuing my work as Tánaiste, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, TD for Dublin West, and leader of Fine Gael. These are responsibilities that I relish and there is so much more I want to do."