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TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said that the Department of Justice has a “lot of problems” and that he wants to get to the truth of the recent controversy over departmental emails.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Marian Finucane show, the Fine Gael leader said that he was only made aware of the full extent of the emails on Monday afternoon and said the truth of these matters would be found by the Disclosures Tribunal.
He also said that the behind-closed-doors discussions with Fianna Fáil “wasn’t some poker game with Micheál Martin” and that the controversy with Frances Fitzgerald became a “feeding frenzy” over the past week.
Emails released by the Department of Justice earlier this week showed that Fitzgerald had “noted” the legal strategy being employed, and that the email had been sent to her on three separate occasions in May 2015, when Fitzgerald served as Justice Minister.
Despite having the support of Varadkar, she stepped down on Tuesday with the opposition threatening to trigger an election if she didn’t go.
The Taoiseach was also critical of civil servants in the Department of Justice in the wake of the recent controversies.
He said: “It is important to acknowledge that departments that have difficulties – and justice has a lot of them – but good work is still done. I’m not tarring an entire department with one brush… but there were evidently failings.
I hope this episode will get the message across – if you’re passing information to minister, it needs to be correct.
Facing the first real crisis in his time leading the country, Varadkar said he didn’t feel like he was out of his depth.
“I want my ministers and backbenchers to know that I’m not going to require them to resign,” he said. “I want to get to the truth. I will give them support.”
He said he had worked all last weekend with Micheál Martin in a bid to avoid a general election, and more he works with him, the “more [they] understand each other”.
It wasn’t some poker game with Micheál Martin… It wasn’t until Monday afternoon we had the full facts.
Varadkar also said that he felt like his government could actually last longer than expected, as the recent scandals had helped to “focus minds”.
On the issue of Fianna Fáil politicians celebrating in the Dáil bar when it was announced that a no-confidence motion had been tabled against Fitzgerald, he said that it “highlighted a type of politics [he doesn't] like”.
Turning to the Brexit negotiations, Varadkar said that he doesn’t think Ireland need to use its veto on any trade deals as “we have 26 countries behind us”. He was also critical of the criticisms being made by British politicians.
“If they want to move on to phase two, they’ll have to say yes to something,” he said.
One thing I understand about politics, when people don’t want to deal with you on substance and on facts, they attack you personally.
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Interesting how Varadkar now openly and privately criticised civil servants, even naming them from time to time in private , recognises no fault in Frances Fitzgerald and seeks to portray the matter as one of public administration, not political responsibility and accountability.
It sets an undesirable situation in which a sitting Taoiseach openly and publicly attacks the civil servants who have no effective right of reply. It is not for Varadkar to draw conclusions.
Varadkar exhibits many of the traits of a weak leader.
As fir the Disclosures Tribunal, its Terms of Reference are too tightly constrained in relation to the area of Ministerial and governmental responsibility.
@Fiona deFreyne: He certainly exhibits many of the traits of old politics which is very disappointing from a young man. He’s clearly party first and the country second to a point where he’s starting to regard the will of the country as a sort of inconvenient barrier to his personal and party ambitions rather than viewing himself as a servant of the people.
@Fiona deFreyne: Welcome back. Went AWOL the other day when SF were in a sticky situation. Must have been fighting fires at HQ.
@Rochelle: for the first time ever I agree with you. You should stick to the politics and give up on the rugby
@Fiona deFreyne: the very fact that “he doesn’t see anything wrong” with the duplicity of Frances Fitzgerald actions towards Sgt McCabe and her denial of all knowledge “hand , act or part” in the Dail tells all we need to know about the lack of a moral compass with Lie-o.
The man doesn’t deserve to represent this country and he certainly doesn’t represent me – is this the new moral code of a muddled “culture” ?
This is what occupies his mind when we have families homeless, foreclosures, old pei0le lying on hospital trolleys, tracker mortgage scandals, insurance cartels, looming Brexit. Jesus wept the man is so far beyond out of his depth it is downright scary.
Sooner we have a #GE the better – we need to be rid of him and his like – ireland has never been more in danger.
@Fiona deFreyne: the very fact that “he doesn’t see anything wrong” with the duplicity of Frances Fitzgerald actions towards Sgt McCabe and her denial of all knowledge “hand , act or part” in the Dail tells all we need to know about the lack of a moral compass with Lie-o.
The man doesn’t deserve to represent this country and he certainly doesn’t represent me – is this the new moral code of a muddled “culture” ?
This is what occupies his mind when we have families homeless, foreclosures, old pei0le lying on hospital trolleys, tracker mortgage scandals, insurance cartels, looming Brexit. Jesus wept the man is so far beyond out of his depth it is downright scary.
Sooner we have a #GE the better – we need to be rid of him and his like – ireland has never been more in danger.
@Doh: Tell me who to vote in???
@Fiona deFreyne: Did he make any reference to Fitzgeralds 2 political advisers who also received the emails–what action did they take?
Bad analogy Leo, you need balls of steel to be good at poker.
@Jim Kirby: well said which is why she had to go – no credibility….the length of her nose was getting embarrassing.
Lie-o attempt at deflection by blaming civil service when Francis and two of her advisors had that info and had “noted” emails show Lie-o up fir the fool that he is – the evidence is there but he thinks he can make statements contrary to ut and get away with it – he really is delusional and drunk on power.
@Fiona deFreyne: Spin spin spin spin spiiiiiiinnnnnnnnn
@Fiona deFreyne: Civil Servants have 0 accountability to anyone. Its about time they got a good hiding for obvious failings.
If this was the private sector and a secretary gave gravely false information to a CEO before a shareholder meeting they’d be sacked on the spot.
@Gerry Murphy: nobody in the eu controlled dail
FG’s biggest problem is, there’s FG, and then there’s the rest of us, and according to FG, FG is always right, even when they’re 100% wrong.
@Adrian: You’ve just described SF. Funny that.
@Adrian: You could say the same about FF & SF. Political parties are not known for admitting when they are wrong. It’s the nature of the beast.
@Arnold Alley: Who would you like in government? I see you here a lot – plenty of giving out, with precious little by way of a solution to anything offered. Hop off that ditch…
@Justin Gillespie: and FG and FF politics is gombeen politics, incompetent politicians elected resulting in a poorly run country, almost always putting the Irish gov in a very weak position when dealing with the EU and the UK because lets face it, we’d be a basket case without EU support.
@Honeybadger197: SF .. FF .. FG.. What’s the difference. The funny thing is that the hypocrites can see the issues say with SF and like the cowards they are, say nothing when FG screw up.
@Adrian: leos poker face is slipping and the countries reading fianna fails propping up fine geal for the 1% and corporation tax dodging while kicking homeless in the face #keeping therobberygoing
Leo Varadkar on political crisis: ‘It wasn’t some poker game with Micheál Martin’… No Leo it was you standing beside someone who had lied on multiple times and misled not only the dail but the people of this country . It was you leo who expected the people to believe the nonsense coming from you and your party on how this wasn’t a big deal. Nothing to see hear.
TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said that the Department of Justice has a “lot of problems…. Would someone tell leo , it’s his government , his ministers that actually are in charge of the department of justice… So if it has a lot of problems, they were allowed operate under fg leadership quite happily when it suited . Now cat is out of the bag and the taoiseach of this country days not my fault or my government, it’s those pesky civil servants.
@Honeybadger197: if only these people would shut up and do as they are told … right?
@Ian Kavanagh: Wrong. It would be useful to offer something beyond incessant moaning, all topped off a dash of nihilism.
@Honeybadger197: rather than sticking your head up your arse and insisting that FG can do no wrong ?
@Niall Quinlan: oh dear, here we go again. Why are you telling lies?
@Honeybadger197: Apologies for accusing you of having multiple accounts, sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish between genuine posters and those who are party affiliated and will go to any lengths to promote same. Having said that I was wrong. We may differ opinion wise on our political preferences but I respect your right to express how you feel on any given topic.
Micheal Martin saved Varadkar’s political skin.
@Fiona deFreyne: Tony – explain that one to me please.
I’m sure Saint Michael did it after much moral soul searching and in the best interests of the country!!! and not to politically undermine his opponent.
Varadkar does not have the required stuff of real leadership.
It is not possible in any country to fire senior civil servants with the possible exception of North Korea….Good to see them being called out for something however….Comedy series Yes Minister was close to the truth…..
@Fiona deFreyne: I don’t necessarily disagree with you but I don’t see any knight in shining armour around the place & he certainly isn’t the worst of them.
@John003: he is absolutely right to call them out based on the antics of last week. What do you want people – accountability or not? Or just where it suits. An explanation is needed on why the additional mails came out at different times. Best effort I bet. In fact releasing of mails to the public needs to be reviewed and most people don’t know the full picture.
“He was critical of senior civil servants in the Dept” then why doesn’t he do something like fire them for incompetence , instead of giving them lotto style increases and gold plated pensions while Irish people sleep on the cold streets, but he will do nothing only turn up for any photo opportunity or soft interview like with Marian finucane. He’s a publicity junkie like Katie price.
@Liam O Connor: you have never hired someone I take it? Even in the private sector it’s not that easy
@lavbeer: Surely lying her backside off could be deemed gross misconduct?
@Derek Lyster: talking about the permanent government here. The minister is transitional and in reality not fully in charge.
If she openly lied – this will be found out and her resignation will have been the correct decision. Hopefully it will show what LV knew and when. But if we get into a situation where every comment needs verification then DE need to look at themselves first.
So now Leo is saying he won’t sack ministers for incompetence and will instead back them to the hilt? He is digging himself an even deeper hole now, no way would I vote for a party that doesn’t believe in political accountability
“The Taoiseach was also critical of civil servants”
But apparently the then minister who was in charge of the Debt of Justice has been wronged when it was pointed out what happened happened under her watch.
Talk about double standards…..
@Kerry Blake: pure deflection by Lie-o. Frances and her private secretary had copies on thise emails in their own inbox – why did they need a civil servant to remind them of that fact…….they didn’t , cause they had them all along.
We as a country owe the civil servants a big thank you – if they hadn’t disclosed them then we the public ( and opposition benches) would never have been made aware of what Frances Fitzgerald and the wider FG party were up to – they had hoped to keep it hidden.
This thruth is exactly what Lie-o is trying to deflect us from by trying to blame the civil service.
I’d say an interview with the civil servant who just took early retirement would give some real insight into the games of Lie-o and FG henchmen
@Doh: such an interview would give great oversight into the CS as well. Just checked my work email – over 700 unread mails which I will try to catch up on. A lot of crap despite filtering.
@Doh: you make an excellent point on the disclosures. I would like to know the detail here. Held back or found in second trawl. I suspect the latter and human error / who decides what is applicable etc. What I find disturbing is the release of info to the media. This is being driven be the CS I suspect and I question their integrity. LV has received bad information it seems. Or is she lying? A lot of CYA going in but why would you accept what one side says? I don’t know but I suspect all are playing us for fools
@lavbeer: you have 700 unread emails – don’t worry Leo will stand behind you. He even thinks it is ok to say you didn’t know anything about theel emails even though you sent an email saying you noted the content of the previously sent email.
I bet you really wnjoy working for Lie-o , lets you post in Journal.ie all day long….all part of his €5mn ” spin the BS” budget
@lavbeer: i am sure frances had a folder or a rule on her email that put everything referencing Sgt. McCabe into that file automatically so she could review – there was no trawl – just suppression with intent….and the brass nexk to deny,deny,deny and even when caught -deny !!
It is the blueshirt way !!!
Propaganda masters
Truth…….ahhhhhhh not so good.
Is The Taoiseach attempting to influence the outcome of the inquiry from which important documents were withheld?
Noting ,,a strategy to use state funds and resources to destroy the health, reputation ,family and life of an innocent public servant while doing nothing to stop it, is doing nothing wrong in Leo’s way of thinking.
@marg fitzgerald: I thought his speech the other day was a little close to the bone with his I expect her to be cleared . The commission has credibility for now it seems having called out the other Garda. Te McCabe is going to have to point fingers at named garda next time out. Whether the politicos also get called out or not will be interesting. I bet not. But the politics/ CS relationship needs exposing and I for one think seniors CA need to be accountable. Not to mobs on social media or the journal though
Poker game? No.
Leo was playing checkers, meehole was playing chess.
A woeful display of ineptitude at the first hurdle.
@The Risen: Micheal was lucky & well he knows it. Only for that last email appearing he was toast & would have been shown the door by his own.
As it happens all’s well that ended well. No election, & Micheal stays put which is important because as long as he is leader of Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein will never get a sniff of power.
Ahh bless, our novelty Tai-Sock has spoken, Michael has his measure, give him enough rope and he’ll hang himself, and will no doubt pull the lever soon enough!
The’re into the final waltz now and both are preoccupied scripting and choreographing their departure to ensure maximum advantage, it’ s all optics and no substance!
In the same interview he also stated Fitzgerald did nothing wrong … SERIOUSLY !!!!! Damn good article in today’s examiner detailing FG’S pursuit of McCabe and how they failed him at every turn.
Of course it was a game of poker. You blinked first Leo. Had you held out Martin would have done another U Turn, remember it was his head on the block also. He would never have brought the motion of no confidence in Fitzgerald only Sinn Fein moved first. The fact Flannagan has replaced Fitzgerald does not mean this saga has gone away. Martin’s stomach must be churning at the fact he may have to go through this again. As for your story Leo, Coveney waiting in the long grass.
He doesn’t do brinkmanship very well does he ? In fact hes pretty brutal at it.
Leo is not mature enough to have the position of Taoiseach, he has done nothing at all since he went into the Dail.
The Taoiseach has nor presumed 3 times upon the outcome of the Disclosures Tribunal if Inquiry re Sgt. McCabe. This is a very pointed and directed message at Mr. Justice Peter Charleton in relation to the outcome expected by Varadkar.
That said, I don’t think that Mr Justice Peter Charletin will bend to Varadkar’s strongly expressed expectation.
Simple. Leo is educated, sensible and honest. Call it naive but I think it’s refreshing. We all know SF appeal to lower-income families or welfare recipients who will skim as much money as they can from middle-income families.
@Simon Peters: a good and accurate summary of The FG political philosophy.
@Fiona deFreyne: Tony – on your view – if voting was mandatory given the mess of the country would SF win a majority government given they are closer to a socialist model of governance?
@Simon Peters: Wow there lies the mind set of every FG supporter.
@Simon Peters: honest ? How many time times did he correct the the Dail last week ? Honest indeed…
Funny how you are soooo oops concerns with SF skimming but never have anything to say about vulture funds, multinationals ( proved this week that may pay less than 1% corporation tax ), etc skimming as well ..
Or is skimming only skimming if carried out by the shinners. No wonder this country is constantly fuc#ed up when people can only see wrong from a class that they are ‘uncomfirtable’ with …
Maybe I’m been naive, but wouldn’t it be refreshing if people could call out misgivings perpetrated by their own parties .. yes, that would certainly be naive.
Politicians have a lot of problems, the guardi have a lot of problems and the HSE have a lot of problems, all stemming from successive Fianna Gael governments who allowed these problems to grow and promote a culture of excess, lies and corruption.
Varadkar is a fool if he thinks that the UK will play clean over brexit, should learn from history that Michael Collins was stitched up and later shot for his stupidity. This is a once in a lifetime chance to use the Veto and push the border customs into the Irish Sea. He would be a lake duck to expect the EU to do our bidding, they don’t really care.
@Chris Kirk: you said everything that needed to be said in your first 4 words.
@Ian Kavanagh: a fool charged with making a decision that could greatly impact every worker in the country. And in turn a kick in to everyone else. Cos time it goes wrong given our current level of debt – the impact will be a lot worse
Leo is a show pony. That’s it
A weak leader with poor judgment. The king of the soundbite
The last paragraph is likely to be seen by the end of day on these comments- so true.
So Michael Martin (Allegedly ) whilst in cabinet brought the country to its knees , proped up this government & now decided to bring Brexit into the mix at the most important juncture so he can have a minister head on a plate going obviously into another General Election. Jesus Wept- keep voting people. Merry Christmas?
Leo got lots of criticism about this interview, but it wasn’t as bad a people are saying. I hope for his sake Frances will be vindicated in the Charleton Tribunal, as I felt he was over defending her. He needed to draw a line & move on.
Leave it to the tribunal now, & focus on Brexit.
This circus needs to end now.
So Michael Martin whilst in cabinet brought the country to its knees , proped up this government & now decided to bring Brexit into the mix at the most important juncture so he can have a minister head on a plate going obviously into another General Election. Jesus Wept- keep voting people. Merry Christmas?
@Muckser Maher: 100% Agree with you. Screw McCabe right ?
Better to ensure the cover ups continue right ?
@Ian Kavanagh: good political tactics of divide all conquer all by FF. I hope I am not confused by election time.
@Muckser Maher: yeah it’s all FF fault .. who has been in power since 2011.
Please educate us …
It was fairly small of FF. They have equalised their standing with SF now – dunno how they can dig themselves out of that
@Cicero: out of what exactly?
I do love the usual crew who blame SF and FF for all of their ills. Such Hyproictes … the same ones who promised us new politics, openness transparency and accountability… a democratic revolution … but all we got was a more snake versions of FF. But hey, look over there, it’s Mikey Martin and Gerry Adams !!!!
No, it was Russian Roulette!
So Micheal Martin, alledgely whilst in cabinet brought the country to its knees and when out of government decided to prop up government at the same time bring down a government (minister head on a plate ) during Ireland/Brexit most important time. Oh is there an election due? Jesus wept! Keep voting & MERRY Christmas
Precis of interview….You are a queer…..Correct…..You are separated from your partner…He is studying in Chicago to be a doctor…You are half Indian….pater ally…..You twitter a lot…..Not this week….You caved in to Michael Martin….It was not a poker game….etc etc etc. Finnucane tried to Finnuleo but it backfired on her….Leo is not perfect but l thought he survived that hatchet job remarkably well. It must be said if he can tame The Mighty Finn U Cane the Dept of Justice will be a walk in the ark….Also l am really really sorry l called him Lycra l was just being mean and to apologise to An Taoiseach l have two beautiful presents for him and Maithiù…Uimhir a h aon….Deineann go moch a ghnó agus uimhir a dó Maith é an charaid acht gé holc beith ‘na heasba….neither the letter or the spirit of no two applies to The Finn U Cane…..please pass this on to Leo for his perusal…
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