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POLITICIANS OF OPPOSITION have called it “truly outrageous” that a former lobbyist for the National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP) is being nominated for a position on the Standards Commission in Public Office (Sipo).
Geraldine Feeney is a former Fianna Fáil senator who is being nominated by the government for one of two vacant positions at political ethics regulator Sipo.
Deputy Paul Murphy asked Sipo last week to investigate whether Tánaiste Leo Varadkar had violated the code of conduct for public office holders when he handed over a confidential document to former NAPG president Maitiú Ó Tuathail.
The now-defunct NAGP union was born in 2013, but went into liquidation in 2019.
In today’s Dáil, Sinn Féin’s TD Pearse Doherty raised questions about Feeney’s appointment at Sipo and asked if it would be discussed at the house.
Doherty said that one of the two openings at Sipo must be filled by a former Oireachtas member and that Feeney “meets that criteria.”
“I’m sure the Tánaiste knows, maybe he can tell us if he’s so aware, that Ms. Feeney is not just a former member of Oireachtas,” said Doherty.
“She also became a professional lobbyist. There is doubt as to whether it is appropriate for a motion to be presented to the House, without debate, requesting that not only a former member of the Oireachtas be appointed but also a professional lobbyist for Sipo.
There is another problem. Ms. Geraldine Feeney, in her role as a lobbyist, only lobbied for the NAGP. His eight returns to the Standards Commission in the Public Office prove it. The Tánaiste is aware that there is a complaint related to his conduct on which Sipo will have to rule.
Feeney is listed on the state’s lobbying registry as a former lobbyist who had lobbied on behalf of the NAGP in 2017 and 2018, including a meeting with the now-Taoiseach Micheál Martin in May 2017.
Feeney had been a member of Seanad Éireann from 2002 to 2011.
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In a tweet this afternoon, Rise TD Murphy said the government should withdraw the nomination.
It is truly outrageous that the government is planning to appoint a former NAGP lobbyist to the SIPO board.
The first complaint on your desk is mine about Varadkar’s leak of the confidential document to the president of the NAGP.
The government should withdraw the nomination!
– Paul Murphy (@paulmurphy_TD) November 12, 2020
In response to Doherty’s query in today’s Dáil, Varadkar said Feeney’s nomination comes on the advice of Fianna Fáil’s Minister of Public, Michael McGrath.
“The idea of having a former politician at SIPO is to have someone who has a practical understanding of the work we do as politicians. I think it was Mr. Jim O’Keeffe in the past and now it’s proposed to be Mrs. Geraldine Feeney, ”Varadkar said.
La Tánaiste added that whether or not his nomination would be debated in the Dáil was a matter for the Business Commission.
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