Gardaí complete probe into Varadkar GP contract leak and send file to DPP

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar. FIle Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Gardaí have completed their investigation into the leaking of a GP pay deal contract by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar to his friend and have sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

"An Garda Síochána can confirm that an investigation file on this matter has been submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution for its consideration," a garda spokesperson said this afternoon.

“As this matter is now for consideration by the Office of the DPP, An Garda Síochána will not be commenting any further.” 

Gardaí launched the investigation after Mr Varadkar confirmed he had leaked a copy of a proposed new GP pay agreement, agreed upon by his government and the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), to a rival GP group while he was Taoiseach in 2019.

The person to whom the documents were leaked, Dr Maitiú Ó Tuathail, was the then-president of the now defunct National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP).

In leaking the documents, Mr Varadkar said that he was simply trying to get wide GP support for the proposed deal.

After news of the incident broke, Mr Varadkar apologised for his "errors of judgement" in the Dáil.

In November 2020, he survived a vote of no confidence, tabled by Sinn Féin, by a margin of 92 votes to 65.

 Dr. Maitiu O'Tuathail. File Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Following the result, Mr Varadkar said that the suggestion that he had anything personally to gain from giving the document to the NAGP was "false and deeply offensive."

He described Dr Ó Tuathail as a friend but said they were "not close friends."

However, he said he regretted "the annoyance that his actions caused."

In the wake of the vote, Taoiseach Micheál Martin called the no-confidence motion a "100% cynical move" and said that lessons had been learned "all-round".

He said all in Government had accepted that the Tanaiste's actions should not have happened.

In the months since, The Tánaiste has continually insisted he has not broken any laws.