The public ethics watchdog has ruled for a second time against an inquiry into Leo Varadkar’s leak of a confidential document when he was taoiseach, after a new review ordered by the High Court.
The Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) ruling comes weeks after Mr Varadkar retired from the Dáil by not contesting the November election. The “Leo the leak” affair was a low point in his political career that triggered a Garda investigation, although the Director of Public Prosecutions ruled against criminal charges.
Mr Varadkar was heavily criticised for posting a draft 2019 State contract with the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) to the home of his friend Dr Maitiú Ó Tuathail, then president of the National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP), an IMO rival that is now defunct.
Sipo examined the case in 2022 and decided against a preliminary investigation, despite dissenting votes by Comptroller & Auditor General Séamus McCarthy and Ombudsman Ger Deering.
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That split decision, the first in Sipo’s history, was challenged in the High Court by People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, one of the original complainants about the leak to the ethics body.
In a June ruling, Mr Justice Barry O’Donnell quashed Sipo’s original decision on the basis that it was inadequately reasoned and directed the commission to look again at the Varadkar case.
Sipo issued a new 17-page ruling on Thursday to Mr Murphy, citing “careful consideration” of the evidence.
[ ‘Leo the leak’ affair still lingers five years on ]
“The commission has become of the opinion that there is not sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case that disclosure of the agreement to Dr Ó Tuathail, given his capacity as president of the NAGP, was contrary to the nature and extent of the confidentiality subsisting at the time of disclosure,” the Sipo ruling said.
“In addition, even if there was evidence to establish that the agreement was sufficiently sensitive that it ought not to be disclosed, the commission has become of the opinion that there is not sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case that the respondent [Mr Varadkar] knew of such sensitivity.”
The ethics body went on to say the “evidence does not tend to show an ulterior purpose” on behalf of the then taoiseach.
Sipo “has not identified prima facie evidence which would contradict” Mr Varadkar’s position that his government had made commitments to engage the NAGP and that he was seeking to advance government policy goals.
In his 2021 Garda statement, Mr Varadkar said he provided the document to Dr Ó Tuathail in his NAGP capacity “and not because he was a friend”.
Mr Murphy said was “very disappointed that Sipo has decided yet again not to investigate” the leak.
“The finding that there isn’t prima facie evidence that the agreement was confidential is extremely tortured and thoroughly unconvincing,” Mr Murphy added.
“I’m going to study the decision thoroughly and discuss it further with my legal team and decide in the new year whether I will take further legal action.”
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