He has admitted that he provided a copy of the IMO contract to the NAGP, and has been under pressure by the opposition to make a statement on the matter
Leo Varadkar says he's sought legal advice on the content of the article.
The Tanaiste says the 2019 Agreement on GP contractual reforms was negotiated by the Department of Health, the HSE and the Irish Medical Organisation.
However the Tánaiste accepts that the provision of the Agreement by an informal communication channel to the President of the NAGP was not best practice and he regrets that he did not ensure that it was provided in a more appropriately formal manner.
He says the essential details of it were publicly announced at the beginning of April 2019.
Leo Varadkar says the fact a deal had been reached was not something that was confidential or sensitive after the 6th of April 2019 but on the contrary, it was in the public domain.
He says when he was Taoiseach he did provide a copy of the Agreement to Dr. Maitiu Ó Tuathail on a date between 11th and 16th of April 2019, who was President of the National Association of General Practitioners, an alternative representative organisation of General Practitioners.
He says the provision of the Agreement to Dr. Ó Tuathail needs to be seen in the context of the potential unfairness of one representative body for General Practitioners (the IMO) having access to the Agreement, at a time when the other representative body (the NAGP) did not.
In this regard, Leo Varadkar says the Government had publicly committed to keep the NAGP informed as to the progress of negotiations on the Agreement.
He says there was however, nothing in any way unlawful about the provision of the Agreement to the President of the NAGP.
