Leo Varadkar’s decision to leak a confidential GP agreement while Taoiseach was the “worst form of insider, crony politics at play” according to the Sinn Féin leader.
Mary Lou McDonald was speaking after a Garda inquiry into the leak was upgraded to a full criminal investigation.
Minister Varadkar has apologised to the Dáil for his ‘errors of judgment’ in sending a copy of the deal, agreed with the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), to the then-president of the rival National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP).
He said there was ‘nothing corrupt or illegal’ in his actions and insisted he was attempting to get as much support for the deal among doctors as possible.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the leak was a “reckless thing to do and it was gross abuse of power.”
“I believed in November that his position was untenable,” she said.
“I believe that the Taoiseach should have removed him from his ministerial position. That was our view in November and that is our view today.
“Of course, the criminal aspect of this is not for us to call. That is a matter for the national bureau of criminal investigation. They and only they can determine and investigate whether or not there was a crime committed, that is for them and that is a separate process.”
"Insider, crony politics"
She noted that, by the Tánaiste’s, “own utterances and admissions, the facts here are not in dispute.”
“The document was leaked,” she said. “It was leaked to a third party who was friend of the Tánaiste – then Taoiseach – and who was the head of a rival organisation.
“If anybody else within the system or in any other organisation leaked confidential information at a critical time in a negotiation – if they openly proclaimed that they had done it – action would be taken and they would be held to account for it.
“It is beyond the beyonds in the Ireland of 2021 that anyone would defend Leo Varadkar’s behaviour.
“It is the worst, worst form of insider, crony politics at play and that is not acceptable in the year 2021.”
The Tánaiste Leo Varadkar leaving the Convention Centre in Dublin, 26-11-2020. Image: RollingNewsMinister Varadkar has insisted that most of the information in the document already in the public domain when he sent it to the NAGP.
He has admitted it was admitted it was not best practice to share it the way he did but rejected claims he handed the group any unfair commercial advantage.
"Cock and bull"
Deputy McDonald labelled his story “cock and bull” and suggested his claims have been “comprehensively disproven.”
“He knew at the time or at least should have known that the objective of the other organisation was not to be helpful but to get ahead of their rivals,” she said.
“The head of Government should not under any circumstances have been involved in that.
“You see, it might be a thing where Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, for a long time, this is how they act – the insider crony politics – but that is over and everybody concerned, including Leo Varadkar needs to know that.”
She claimed it was “astonishing” that anyone would compare the investigation facing Minister Varadkar to arrest and questioning of Sinn Féin Deputy Leader Michelle O'Neill for alleged breaches of coronavirus restrictions or the historical arrest and questioning of former leader Gerry Adams as part of the investigation into the murder of Jean McConville.
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