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Former Agriculture Minister Barry Cowen has said Leo Varadkar has a “right to make a mistake” and does not believe that a “grave should be prepared” for the Tánaiste as a result of the contract controversy.
Varadkar shared confidential information with a rival body during government negotiations with the Irish Medical Organization (IMO) in April 2019, it emerged following a report in Village Magazine.
Cowen, who was fired as agriculture minister over the summer following controversy stemming from a historic drunk driving incident, said that while sharing details of a € 210 million draft agreement with family doctors with a rival group of GPs, Varadkar had made a mistake “with good intentions, if possible.”
“I would not dance on his grave,” he said, “I don’t think a grave should be prepared on that in this case.”
Cowen’s intervention will be considered as significant as he was removed from office following a political controversy earlier this year.
Political sources had speculated that Cowen’s attitude to the controversy would be an important indicator of how the Fianna Fáil party would react in general.
“It would seem that it was a well-intentioned mistake, if that’s possible, as one can imagine the anxiety of putting that process (the GP contract) to bed,” Cowen said.
“It is an inadvertent mistake that I should learn from and move on, there are bigger issues facing the country right now.”
Rows closed
His comments come as the ministers closed ranks on Sunday around the Tánaiste. Speaking to RTÉ radio, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said that the Tánaiste shared the draft agreement “after an agreement was reached on that new GP (general practitioner) contract in particular.”
What we wanted to do was get the agreement of the GPs for its implementation, ”he said. “It was after a press conference on the deal had been held.
It was after the government accepted the new agreement and the details we were referring to were widely disseminated and, indeed, widely reported, ”said Mr. Donohoe.
Mr. Varadkar has rejected allegations in Village magazine that he acted illegally by providing a copy of the draft payment agreement with IMO to the rival medical representative group of the National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP).
Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1’s This Week program on Sunday, Mr. Donohoe said the Tánaiste had recognized that “the way information was shared was not best practice. He has also made it very clear that he will go to the Dáil to answer questions in relation to this. “
Questions raised by other ruling party leaders “will of course be answered,” the minister said.
“I have been involved in countless negotiations on his behalf and on behalf of the Government and at all times he and he have been guided to do the right thing by the Treasury and, in this case, by patients and GPs”, Mr. Donohoe said.
Education Minister Norma Foley said the Taoiseach has made it clear that “this was not the best practice.”
Mr. Varadkar “has also recognized the need to appear before the Dáil next week to make a statement and indeed more importantly, perhaps also to answer questions. I think that is the correct forum, he answers to the Dáil ”, he said.
The Tánaiste “needs to give a very frank and, to be honest, I recognized that he already made a detailed statement,” he added.
‘Concealment’
Sinn Féin Health spokesperson David Cullinane rejected Mr. Varadkar’s view that the document was not confidential when it was distributed.
“That is at odds with Dáil’s record.
“First, as the leader of Fine Gael, Leo confirmed that he leaked the document. The document was not public and that contradicts Dáil’s record.
“We had a lot of opposition health spokespersons, from Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly to the current Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, who said quite clearly that the document was not public, was not published, and in fact It was not published until May 17, and I do not think it is acceptable for the Tánaiste to hide behind silly excuses ”.
“You passed a document to a friend” that “was marked as confidential. He wrote in his own handwriting on the face of the document “subject to change,” Cullinane said.
“This all smells like connoisseurs again, of Fine Gael taking care of friends, Leo taking care of friends, doing favors instead of doing the right thing and I think you have to be honest, you have to acknowledge and accept that this was inappropriate.” . he said.
Mr. Cullinane also criticized Mr. Donohoe’s comments in defense of the Tánaiste. “He (Mr. Donohoe) hasn’t said this is wrong.
“He has not said that this is unacceptable. You have not said that this is inappropriate, and by the way, it was a very, very delicate negotiation that involved huge amounts of taxpayer money.
“I think people watching are sick and tired of politics when it comes to insiders, who you know, favors for friends. It’s about how Fine Gael does business and how Leo, as the leader of Fine Gael, does business, ”he said.
He asked “how many more times was an inappropriate channel used by the Tánaiste when he was Taoiseach and in fact now as Tánaiste?”
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