Taoiseach Contradicts Varadkar on Primary Care List – Kelleher
Published on: 25 September 2012
The Taoiseach has directly contradicted Minister Leo Varadkar on the issue of James Reilly’s interference with the list of locations for Primary Care Centres, according to Fianna Fáil Health Spokesperson Billy Kelleher TD.
Deputy Kelleher commented, “On Sunday night, Minister Varadkar joined the list of colleagues who have been undermining James Reilly on and off the record. On RTÉ’s The Week in Politics, he agreed that the Minister’s interference in the list of where Primary Care Centres should be located looked like ‘stroke politics’. He fell short of supporting the Minister, saying that “it does look like it [stroke politics]. I don’t know if it is or not”.
“However, today in the Dáil under pressure from the Fianna Fáil Leader on this issue, the Taoiseach defended his Deputy Leader and Health Minister, claiming that “ In fact, Deputy Reilly consulted with all his colleagues in that regard “.
“If Minister Varadkar had been consulted on the Primary Care list as the Taoiseach claims, why would he then go on to agree that it looked like stroke politics and that he couldn’t rule it out? I am calling on Leo Varadkar, and indeed those other colleagues who are privately briefing the media on their unhappiness with James Reilly’s performance, to clarify whether or not they had been consulted or whether the Taoiseach has once again reshaped the facts to make a political point.”