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Fine Gael TD Simon Harris was not informed by then taoiseach Leo Varadkar that he sent a copy of a draft medical agreement to a friend when he was taoiseach, it is understood.
Harris was Minister of Health when Varadkar approved a draft of the new agreement for general practitioners negotiated between the government and the Irish Medical Organization (IMO) in April last year to a friend who was head of a rival group, the National Association of General Practitioners. (NAGP). The revelations in Village magazine caused a political storm over the weekend.
Opposition parties tried to intensify pressure on Varadkar after the revelations over the weekend. Opposition leaders are expected to question the Tánaiste in the Dáil on Tuesday about the matter and also about any other documents he has provided to outsiders.
Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said it was “deeply inappropriate and absolutely wrong” for Mr Varadkar to share the agreement that had been made between the Government and IMO with the NAGP.
Fine Gael spokesmen who had defended Varadkar were using “deep spin and deflection,” Doherty told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show. The deal with IMO was a multi-million euro negotiation, so the Tánaiste had several questions to answer, he said.
Fianna Fáil’s TD Barry Cowen said that it might have been inappropriate for Varadkar to send a document to the NAGP and that it was not best practice, but that he believed that Vardakar acted with the best of intentions.
It was a problem that everyone was eager to see solved at the time. Mr. Varadkar had to “go ahead and move on” and learn from mistake. There were “bigger and broader” issues to address, like Covid-19 and Brexit. A mistake was made, but it wasn’t fatal, “so we can move on.”
The NAGP was pushing intensely at the time to become part of the GP contract negotiations. On April 9, days after the Cabinet decision, the NAGP met with four TDs and Fine Gael senators on the issue.
In its return to the lobbying registry, the NAGP said it intended to “enlist the support of Fine Gael members to allow the National Association of Family Physicians to initiate official negotiations regarding a new GP contract.” . The four MPs who attended the meeting were TD Martin Heydon, Bernard Durkan and Kate O’Connell, as well as then-Senator (now TD) Colm Burke. The meeting took place a few days before Mr. Varadkar transmitted the document to Mr. Ó Tuathail.
‘Could have been better’
Justice Minister Helen McEntee has acknowledged that the way Tánaiste Leo Varadkar “delivered” confidential information about a new agreement for general practitioners, “could have been better.”
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast and RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland on Monday, Ms McEntee said that Varadkar did not have an “agenda” and that it was inaccurate to suggest that important information was being circulated to try to change the details of the deal.
The minister said that the only gain was for the patients and the taxpayer when a good deal was agreed with the general practitioners. The information in question had already been widely disseminated and Mr Varadkar had just attempted to “keep the NAGP up to date”.
“The way he delivered it could have been better, he himself has said that he realizes that this was not the best practice.”
There was no violation of the law, he said. The document had already been widely distributed and Mr. Varadkar had given it to the NAGP “for them to sign” the agreement between the Government and the general practitioners.
The agreement was reached, the Cabinet signed it, it was published, he said. Much of the confidential information had already been made public and Mr Varadkar’s sole intention had been to keep the NAGP up to date to get as many GPs as possible to adhere to the agreement.
McEntee said trust was not an issue when it came to Varadkar, whom he described as “an honorable person.”
His motivation to share the details with the NAGP had not been for personal gain. Hundreds of GPs (IMO members) had already seen the details and their goal was to get as many GPs as possible.
“The only motivation here was to get a good deal.
The Green Party TD Patrick Costello had questions that needed to be answered and Mr. Varadkar would do so on Tuesday at the Dáil. “The Tánaiste needs to answer questions and we have to let the process unfold.
“There are questions to be answered and it is important to get the most scrutiny that is needed. We have to let this play out and get full disclosure. “
On the same program, Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan asked what was the motivation of Mr. Varadkar. He wanted to make sure there was no interruption in the GP service. Mr. Varadkar had said that he regretted not having shared the agreement in a more formal way.
Pending questions
The co-leader of the Social Democrats Róisín Shortall said there were “many pending questions [MR VARADKAR]he needs to respond, and the situation is not exactly as he described it in his statement on Saturday. “
Varadkar issued a lengthy statement Saturday night in which he rejected the magazine’s claims that he may have violated the law. He said he approved the draft document in an attempt to secure wider support among doctors for the new contract.
Mr. Varadkar accepted that his delivery of the document, which he had mailed to the home of Dr. Maitiú Ó Tuathail, a personal friend, “was not the best practice” and regretted “not ensuring that it was provided properly formal.
But Labor leader Aodhan O Riordain questioned Varadkar’s rationale for sharing the document. “The motivation you have cited as the reason for submitting this document does not stand. When you gave this confidential document, were you doing it as a Taoiseach or as a friend of Maitiu O Tuathail?
“He claims that it was on the basis of trying to achieve greater acceptance of the agreement. That is not the motivation of the NAGP, they are a rival entity to IMO. It would not follow that their motivation in receiving this document is to sell the deal, ”said Mr. O Riordain.
Statement
Dr. Ó Tuathail said in a statement last night that the document was given to him as part of a pre-existing agreement to share information about the deal.
The statement matches elements of the version of events described by Varadkar on Saturday, including the claim that the contents of the leaked document were largely finalized by the time he received it.
“We received a copy of the finalized, agreed and announced program for chronic disease management from the then taoiseach in mid-April. This was seen as a continuation of the government’s decision to consult with the NAGP and its GP members and keep them informed at all times ”.
The sensitivity of the information received, and the degree to which it can be considered to have been largely approved at the time the leak occurred, is likely to be a key part of the political fallout from the controversy in the days ahead.
It appears that while the NAGP leadership had a copy of the document in its possession since mid-April, it did not distribute it to its members to promote acceptance of the proposed new agreement.
In a statement on April 29 last year, the NAGP said that “many GPs are waiting to see the details of the new offer before renewing their subscription. This has created financial difficulties for the NAGP.
“Three weeks have passed since the announcement of the new contract and to date there is no trace of any contract or contractual document.”
At the time, the organization was going through a great deal of internal turmoil that saw the resignation of its president, Dr. Ó Tuathail, and his governing council, amid accusations about governance and spending.
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