Tánaiste Leo Varadkar branded the Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall a “hypocrite” in the Dáil on Thursday following questioning on the powers of the Standards In Public Office Commission (Sipo).
Mr Varadkar later withdrew the comment after a request from Ms Shortall and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle Catherine Connolly and said he wished to replace the term with “purveyor of double standards” instead.
During Leaders’ Questions, Ms Shortall said Sipo had announced it would not be investigating Mr Varadkar’s passing of a document on the new GP deal with the Irish Medical Organisation to Maitiú Ó Tuathail, the head of another GP organisation.
[ Ethics watchdog opts not to investigate Varadkar over leak complaintOpens in new window ]
“I think it would be a lot more accurate to state that Sipo has decided it doesn’t have the authority to investigate this matter,” she said.
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“Sipo noted that you had said your leak of the contract was done in your capacity as taoiseach, and it said it has no remit to inquire into the extent of the powers of the office of Taoiseach.”
The Social Democrats co-leader asked if Sipo has the power to investigate complaints about the actions of the taoiseach or if the office of Taoiseach “protects its inhabitants from scrutiny? It appears that if a minister had opted to leak this document, there would have been a role for Sipo to at least examine it, but as you were taoiseach at the time, the majority view was that they could not look into it.”
In response, Mr Varadkar said the powers of Sipo should be reviewed and strengthened regarding its remit and that work was being done around legislation to enhance its role.
“Just to be very clear Deputy [Shortall], in 2019 I disclosed a government document, it was not a contract, but I disclosed a government document to somebody using an informal channel,” he said.
“I shouldn’t have done that, I’ve apologised for that but I did so under the authority of the Taoiseach, entirely within the law, and in the public interest. I committed no crime and I did not breach the Ethics Act, or the Standards Acts or any code of conduct, and three bodies investigated this for two years, and they more or less came to the same conclusion.”
Mr Varadkar added it was “ungenerous” of Ms Shortall not to acknowledge that and said, “I think it’s quite petty”.
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The Tánaiste said in a radio interview Ms Shortall had said because he was under investigation that Mr Varadkar wasn’t fit to be elected taoiseach or to serve in Cabinet. Mr Varadkar said she was entitled to that view but asked would that view “extend to Sinn Féin? If it is the case that any Sinn Féin politician is under investigation by a public body when the next election comes, will you apply the same standard to them, will you say the Social Democrats will not allow such a person to serve in Cabinet or do you have a different standard for them than you have for us?”
Ms Shortall said she was speaking about Fine Gael and that there seemed to be “no appetite” within the party to update ethics legislation.
Mr Varadkar said he expected to see updated legislation next year but that he did not believe it was the role of any standards commission to investigate “the political decisions or actions of ministers. That’s a different thing. Ministers are responsible to the Dáil for political decisions that they make.”
He added that he was “disappointed” Ms Shortall had not answered his questions regarding Sinn Féin and “it does belie what I suspected. The Social Democratic party is a party of the left, it has lower standards for people who are on the left. What she said on the radio was that I shouldn’t serve in Government just because I was under investigation, even though I’ve subsequently been cleared.Why will the Social Democrats not apply the same standards for Sinn Féin? And I do hope that when you’re doing future interviews, journalists will press you on this matter.”
‘Just like Sinn Féin’
Mr Varadkar said Ms Shortall was a “hypocrite”, to which she responded: “would you make that comment outside of this House?” Mr Varadkar added, “just like Sinn Féin you sue your opponents now, that’s the latest thing”.
Mr Shortall later said the comments he had made “impugn my character, integrity and good name” and asked that he withdraw the comments through the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.
Mr Varadkar said he was happy to withdraw the comments and that Ms Shortall had “impugned my character”, adding “like the leader of the Opposition, you challenge her [Ms Shortall] and she threatens to sue you”. The Tánaiste said he would withdraw the term “hypocrite” and replace it with the term “purveyor of double standards”.
