I never used Government jet

Nobody likes criticism and politicians are no exception.

The challenge is to react with good grace and to respond in a measured way. Yesterday, the Irish Examiner failed in that regard in two instances.

In the first instance, an article suggested that I am open to hypocrisy in relation to media reports on the use of the Government jet. In my speech to the MacGill Summer school I pointed out that the jet is now used so rarely, its pilots are taking training flights in order to maintain their minimum flying hours.

With Ireland hosting the European Presidency next year, there will be frequent demands to spend more time in Brussels, Luxembourg or Berlin. It is hard to see how continuing the current policy for the Government jet will allow us to do our job as Presidents of Europe properly, let alone well.

Incidentally, the same article also failed to mention that I have never used the jet, and instead referred to matches and other such events, for which the jet is not used.

Your editorial was a second opportunity for criticism, taking me to task over my comments about how special advisers are reported on in the media. Any trusting reader of the Irish Examiner would have the impression that I was merely referring to the issue of pay caps. It did not report that my speech stated specifically that the Government had handled the matter badly, and that we should have set pay scales that were rigorously adhered to.

It is disappointing that a newspaper like the Irish Examiner should respond in this manner to a balanced speech on the rights and responsibilities of the media. The irony is that this type of headline-chasing, at the expense of balanced reportage, is precisely what my speech was designed to highlight. For anyone who would like to see what I did say, they can find the speech on my own website: www.leovaradkar.ie

Leo Varadkar

Leinster House

Dublin 2