Varadkar had hard copy of GP pay deal waiting for him as he stepped off government jet
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar sought clarity as to when the document would be published. File picture:Gareth Chaney/Collins
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar requested a hard copy of the pay agreement beween the State and the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) to be waiting for him as he stepped off the government jet after a trip to Brussels in April 2019.
That request came on April 10, 2019, the same day Mr Varadkar asked Dr Maitiú Ó Túathail for his home address, according to new documents.
Mr Varadkar leaked a copy of the agreement between the State and the IMO to Dr Ó Túathail, then head of a rival GP lobby group.
The matter is currently under investigation by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation to determine whether this constituted a breach of the Official Secrets Act or corruption legislation.
Mr Varadkar denies any wrongdoing and has repeatedly said he does not believe criminal charges would arise from the Garda investigation when he was asked if he would step aside should that happen.
New documents, released to Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty under the Freedom of Information Act and supplied to the , show Mr Varadkar also sought clarity as to when the document would be published, thereby confirming it was a private document.
The documents show that at 8am on April 10, Mr Varadkar emailed an official by saying: “Do you have a copy of this [the contract]? SH [Simon Harris] gave it to me but I put it into the recycling bin having read it. Want to look at it again.”
His official said it could be left on his desk. The then-Taoiseach said: “Get it sent out to me in Baldonnel this morning or tonight.”
Later that day, the official replied by saying: “The agreement will be in the car when you arrive in Baldonnel this evening.”
The official said that the Department of Health said some of the language was still being finalised with the IMO.
Mr Varadkar concluded the exchange by asking: “Wondering when they are going to publish it and release it to members.”
Commenting, Mr Doherty said it is bizarre that the Fine Gael leader had this document sent to him as he stepped off the government jet in Baldonnel.
“This shows the extreme lengths that he went to in order to leak a confidential document to his friend. Leo Varadkar told the Dáil that he sought this document for his personal use, but these revelations show that he was making arrangements to leak it before he even had it in his possession,” he told the .
A spokesman for Mr Varadkar said there is “nothing new” in the revelations, saying they are consistent with what he said previously in the Dáil.
The emails, as released in the FOI documents, back up his statements on the matter, he said.
