Tánaiste Says He Doesn’t Believe Criminal Charges Will Be Filed Against Him For Leaking GP Contract

TÁNAISTE LEO VARADKAR has said that he does not believe charges will be brought against him for the problem of the leak of the GP contract.

The Minister of Enterprise, Commerce and Employment is at the center of an investigation into whether the leak of a confidential GP contract to a rival GP group constituted a breach of the corruption legislation or the Official Secrets Law.

The National Bureau of Criminal Investigation is conducting a criminal investigation. Varadkar has repeatedly stated that he has received legal advice that he has not committed any crime.

Asked today on LMFM if it was in the national interest for him to step aside if charges were brought against him, the minister said: “I do not contemplate that happening.”

When asked whether, hypothetically, if criminal charges were brought against any member of the government, that person should step aside while the process is ongoing, Varadkar said:

“I am not contemplating that. I have tried to avoid creating new stories on this topic. So that’s not something I’m considering. I don’t think that’s going to happen. “

The Tánaiste has previously told Dáil that in 2019 it delivered a copy of an agreement negotiated between the Government and the Irish Medical Organization (OMI) to Dr. Maitiú Ó Tuathail, then president of the now-defunct National Association of General Practitioners, a rival GP. . group.

Varadkar apologized for his “errors of judgment” at the Dáil in November, but said suggestions that he had personal gain by leaking the contract were “false and deeply offensive.”

Former Health Minister Simon Harris is understood to have made a statement to Gardaí during preliminary inquiries as to whether an investigation was warranted.

Varadkar said shortly after this that his lawyers had contacted the Gardaí and informed him that he was willing to meet with them and cooperate as part of their investigation.

“Gardaí has ​​to do his job and investigate that complaint,” he said. “I would not expect anything else.”