Varadkar under fire as Fianna Fáil’s Cassells claims ‘State is buying the news’

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is living in “some Russian creation” or “Trumpland” if he believes his strategic communications unit (SCU) can buy the news without any consequences whatsoever.

Fianna Fáil TD Shane Cassells made this claim yesterday as he and other Public Accounts Committee (PAC) members demanded Mr Varadkar and senior officials answer key questions over the controversy.

Speaking during the latest PAC meeting, which heard cross-party calls for the Taoiseach, SCU chief John Concannon, Department of the Taoiseach secretary general Martin Fraser and others to attend, Mr Cassells said the recent spin attempts have been an affront to democracy.