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It is “worrying” that Fine Gael does not seem to understand that confidential documents should not be shared, said a TD from Sinn Féin.
Louise O’Reilly spoke after Tánaiste Leo Varadkar denied that he acted illegally by sharing an agreement reached with the Irish Medical Organization with the head of a rival group.
Ms. O’Reilly said that she had negotiated wage agreements with the government in the past, adding: “Documents are exchanged in good faith and with the basic understanding that confidential documents should not be shared with others.”
Commenting on Twitter, he stated that “trust is essential” and then added: “It is concerning that Fine Gael does not understand this.”
Meanwhile, a Fine Gael minister of state has said that Varadkar “has no problem” in providing Dáil with a statement on why he shared the agreement reached with IMO with the National Association of Family Physicians.
Colm Brophy described the agreement on a new GP contract as “something really positive” and maintained that what was in the document was “widely known” before Mr Varadkar delivered a preliminary copy to NAGP.
He argued in an interview in Newstalk that the government wanted “as many GPs on board as possible” and, consequently, handing over the draft document to the NAGP was “the right thing to do.”
The minister said he believed there was nothing “inconvenient” about Varadkar’s approach, adding that the Tanaiste had admitted that his approach was not “best practice”.
Analysis: Varadkar did not offer any political absolution
Last night, the Green Party – Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil’s partner in government – asked Mr Varadkar to give a “full and detailed account” to Dáil, and to allow time for questioning afterwards.
Dr. Maitiú Ó Tuathail, who was the head of the NAGP at the time the documents were shared, has said that he is currently preparing a statement on the matter.
Dr. Matthew O’Toole says @rtenews He is currently preparing a statement in response to the @VillageMagIRE Article on the exchange of Tánaiste of the IMO GP contract with the NAGP.
– Paul Cunningham (@RTENewsPaulC) November 1, 2020
A Cork resident who was a member of the NAGP at the time has said his initial reaction was “disappointment because things were being sent out back doors.”
Speaking to Damien O’Reilly of RTÉ, Dr. Phil Kieran said that the more I read, “the more nuanced I started to feel.”
Dr. Kieran “certainly had a feeling” in the NAGP at the time that a group representing “a significant portion of GPs” had no access “to any degree of ongoing negotiation.”
He said that if this was happening to “keep that avenue open to GPs” then he was “glad someone was trying to keep us in the loop” but it is his feeling that “this was being posted to try to get the other arm representing GP trying to encourage all of us to accept the deal. “
He said his recollection of the situation at the time was that the only details he heard about the detail were “coming through the media.”
He said they were told they were going to have to accept the deal “or nothing else would come.”
“My big concern, looking at all this, was that if she was going to come forward to the NAGP just so we all try to agree with her, if this was trying to stifle a descending voice in these negotiations, it really undermines an already difficult position they have. GPs when negotiating with the HSE. “
Dr. Kieran said that he “absolutely” did not receive any documents at that time and that it was not shared with members.
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