Fine Gael Chairman Richard Bruton has said Government ministers always expected the National Association of General Practitioners to be “kept fully in the loop” on GP contract talks.

It comes after the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar apologised to the Dáil for sending the confidential GP agreement to the head of the NAGP while he was Taoiseach.

He admitted it was “not best practice” to send the document to his friend Dr Maitiú Ó Tuathail; however, he insisted “there was nothing selfish or dishonest, let alone corrupt or illegal in what I did.”

Sinn Féin has now tabled a motion of no confidence in Minister Varadkar which will be debated in the Dáil on Tuesday.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar arriving at the Convention Centre Dublin for a Dail session.

On The Hard Shoulder this evening, Fine Gael TD Richard Bruton said Government ministers had agreed that the NAGP should be kept informed of what was happening in the talks.

“Cabinet had said from the very outset that the NAGP was to be kept fully in the loop and to have consultation with them as this progressed,” he said.

“So, it was recognised that this was an important group. They may have had difficulties but getting GPs who were not in the IMO to support this was important.”

Negotiations on the GP contract in 2016 were based on a framework agreement between the Government and the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) that was reached following a High Court case on competition rules.

Under the agreement, the Government would negotiate with the IMO and would keep the rival NAGP organisation updated on progress.

No agreement was reached however and, when a second round of talks began in 2018, the understanding was that the IMO would be the only organisation involved.

Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane is seen talking to the media in July 2019 | Image: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ieAlso appearing on The Hard Shoulder this evening, Sinn Féin Health Spokesperson David Cullinane said it was clear to everyone involved at the time that the NAGP was not involved in the talks.

He noted that there had been no contact between the Government and the NAGP for over a year – and the then-Minister for Health Simon Harris had already refused to send the agreement to it.

“It is not right to say the NAGP were part of those talks,” he said.

“The process at the time was a negotiation between the IMO and the Government – Richard Bruton knows that, the Tánaiste knows that, the Minister for Health knew it and the bottom line is, this was stroke.

“This was again part of that insider, who do you know, doing a favour for friend type of politics and the Tánaiste was caught out. What Fine Gael want us to do is brush it under the carpet with no consequences and move on. We are not prepared to do that.”

Confidential

He said he doesn't accept Minister Varadkar’s claim that he sent the document in a bid to get it approved by as many GPs as possible.

“The facts of the matter are that, as head of Government, when Leo Varadkar was Taoiseach, he leaked a confidential, not for circulation document to a friend,” he said.

“If the Tánaiste was clearly of the view that this was the right thing to do at the time, he would have picked up the phone to the Minister for Health or the head of the Department of Health and arranged for an appropriate process to be put in place for this organisation to get a copy of the document.

“He did not do that. He posted it to a friend of his. He said he did it in confidence. That is not the way a head of Government should behave and he knew at the time that this was a rival organisation that was losing members by the day and had its own internal problems, had its own credibility issues.

“He was doing a digout and a favour for a friend.”

“Political antics”

Minister Bruton said Sinn Féin was “engaging in political antics” at a time when the country was facing some of the biggest challenges in its history.

“It is tribal politics at its very worst,” he said. “We devoted a lot of time this week where Leo went in, was fully accountable to the Dáil and answered all the questions that were asked of him.”

“It is clear that, while he may not have communicated this in the best way and he apologised for any failings in that, it is clear he was acting in the best interests of patients – that is what motivated him.

“So, I simply see this as Sinn Fein trying to pursue narrow partisan interests.”