Junior Minister and Sligo/Leitrim TD Frank Feighan says Tanaiste Leo Varadkar ‘did nothing unlawful’when he forwarded documentation relating to discussions with one medical organisation to a rival group.
The Village magazine has reported that the Tanaiste shared a copy of detailed GP contract negotiations with the president of the National Association of General Practitioners, which would have benefitted the IMO’s rival organisation.
The leak is alleged to have happened in 2019 when Mr Varadkar was Taoiseach.
Sligo/Leitrim Fianna Fail TD Marc MacSharry has called on the current Taoiseach Micheal Martin to seek further clarification from the Tanaiste, adding that a distraction of this nature cannot be allowed to fester given the enormity of the problems facing the country.
Junior Minister Frank Feighan says Mr Varadkar has acknowledged what he did was not best practice, adding that the Tanaiste will answer all the allegations, and questions arising, in the Dail tomorrow.
Minister Feighan rejected suggestions that the sharing of the document could create the perception that there are some public interest groups with more access than others to information and in lobbying politicians.
Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy says the Tanaiste’s explanation about the sharing of the discussion document so far hasn’t been good enough:
