[ad_1]
Updated 13 minutes ago
The government won a DÁIL TRUST motion in Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.
The final vote was 92 to 65 in favor of the government.
Sinn Féin filed the motion of no confidence in Varadkar last Friday after the revelation that he had sent a copy of an agreement between the government and the Irish Medical Organization to a rival GP group while he was taoiseach last year.
Varadkar faced questions in the Dáil last Tuesday about the revelations, which were first published by Village Magazine.
Overriding Sinn Féin’s motion of no confidence in Varadkar, the government presented a motion of confidence that was proposed by Taoiseach Micheál Martin tonight.
The debate started around 5:40 p.m. and lasted just under two hours.
During the debate, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said Varadkar “must be held accountable” for his actions as government colleagues mount a strong defense of Tánaiste.
Martin said that Varadkar had “acknowledged his mistake” and that “all the details have been published and lessons have been learned.”
Martin also said that the Tánaiste was part of a government in which “addressing the pandemic remains our first priority.”
“I am pleased to propose a motion of confidence in the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, who was part of a coalition government that is implementing an urgent and progressive program to help and work with all sectors of our society,” said Martin.
The Taoiseach also criticized Sinn Féin for what it said was involved in “politics as usual.”
“Sinn Féin has the right to practice the policy of always looking for an angle and participating and attacking the government at the same time,” he said.
I see no purpose in spending my time in this debate to address the growing examples of Sinn Féin ignoring basic ethical standards. True republicanism is about working in the interest of all people.
Criticizing Varadkar’s actions, McDonald said the government was “following the old man’s network rule book.”
“The welcoming club culture that dominates Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is also the reason why those parties failed workers and families time and time again,” he said.
Leo Varadkar while Taoiseach leaked confidential government information to his friend. You cannot offer any credible reason for your actions. His claim that he was acting in the taxpayer’s interest or that the information was already in the public domain is frayed.
Sinn Féin Finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said Varadkar was “caught red-handed” and handed him a confidential document.
Both Foreign Minister Simon Coveney and Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys also defended Varadkar and criticized Sinn Féin.
Coveney said “faceless online trolls” have suggested that Varadkar was involved in “personal gain or sabotage rather than garnering widespread support for a deal made with GPs.”
“This house was held accountable last week, and rightly so. But what is Sinn Féin’s game here tonight? ”Coveney said.
Are they using this issue to try to sow division in a coalition during a global pandemic and when the Brexit negotiations reach the end of the game, simply to harvest or feed the hate and bile online?
Humphreys said:
You stand on a golden circle, when Sinn Féin is the richest party in this country. He even had Donald Trump himself at one of his gold-plated dinners in America. You had the gall to accuse this government of burying records, but IRA victims across the country are still buried and their families are still waiting.
Labor Aodhán Ó Ríordáin and Social Democrat Róisín Shortall said they would not support Varadkar.
“The Labor Party told the Tánaiste to be honest, to tell the truth, to dispense with the incredible plot he had been peddling, to apologize and maybe there was a way out for him. But the minister decided not to do that, ”Ó Ríordáin said.
The Dublin Bay North TD also criticized Sinn Féin, saying:
Sinn Féin wants to present itself as the ethical left. They say they want to oppose privileged politics and the old man’s club. We in the Labor Party offer you some advice. It’s not enough to describe a convicted tax con man as a good Republican, because he’s a member of your old boy’s club.
No news is bad news
Support the magazine
your contributions help us continue to deliver the stories that are important to you
Support us now
Shortall outlined seven reasons why he would not support Varadkar, the final of which he outlined:
What added insult to injury to the public was that, as the leader of Fine Gael, he demanded that his cabinet colleagues degrade themselves by parroting the cynically elaborate turn lines, repeating his false narrative over the airwaves.
“The actions of the Tánaiste with regard to this sordid affair were unworthy of his office,” he said.
Closing the debate, Varadkar himself apologized for the leak of the document, but also launched the attack against Sinn Féin.
Varadkar said this was the first time he had faced a vote of no confidence and it had made him “reflect” on his actions.
He accused Sinn Fein of making the motion to “keep the story in the public eye for another week” and “distract from other issues.” He claimed that the “truth” was that for Sinn Fein politics was “just a game.”
With reporting by Sean Murray
[ad_2]