The Taoiseach has said he doesn’t believe any law was broken by Leo Varadkar when he shared a confidential agreement with doctors.
Micheál Martin has said the Tánaiste’s actions were not best practice, but that no major advantage was given to anyone by sharing the agreement.
It’s a view echoed by Leo Varadkar’s party colleagues here, with Clare’s Fine Gael Senator saying his motivations were appropriate.
Pressure has been building on Leo Varadkar ahead of his statement to the Dáil tomorrow.
This morning the Minister for Business was conspicuous by his absence from the announcement at Government Buildings of 300 new jobs by pharma company Pfizer.
Instead it was Taoiseach Micheál Martin who made the announcement, and took questions on Leo Varadkar’s sharing of a confidential IMO agreement with a rival GP union.
The Taoiseach said he has confidence in Leo Varadkar, but deflected most questions saying the Tánaiste will have his own chance to answer them in the Dáil tomorrow.
The Tánaiste’s defence largely centres around the argument that most of the information in the IMO document was already in the public domain before he shared it with a friend of his who was heading a rival union.
Clare’s Fine Gael Senator, Martin Conway believes it was appropriate for Leo Varadkar to use whatever influence he had to get the deal over the line, so that the Government could provide better healthcare to the people of Ireland.
While Leo Varadkar will come under pressure in the Dáil tomorrow, there are few questions now about his political survival.
Former Clare TD and Minister Tony Killeen believes the Tanaiste will hold on, unless there are further developments to come in this story.
