Tag Archives: Leaders’ Questions


From top: FAI; Deloitte; Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy; Taoiseach Leo Varadkar

This afternoon.

During Leaders’ Questions.

Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy raised Deloitte and how the company audited the debt-riddled Football Association of Ireland for 23 years.

Ms Murphy said the whole idea of having an external auditor is “that you have independent eyes on your accounts”.

But, she asked Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, “can that really be the case after 23 years of doing the same job for the same organisation?”

She went on to say:

“Financial information which was published recently during the unfolding of the FAI saga showed some startling adjustments to the FAI accounts for previous year.

In 2016, for example, an originally reported profit, it was adjusted from €2.344million to just €66,000.

In 2017, a profit in the accounts of €2.8million was adjusted to the point that it ended up being a loss of €2.9million in their accounts.

“This is in addition to the fact that the Revenue audit in 2019 revealed an underpayment of taxes and, together with interest and penalties, led to additional liability of €2.3million.

“It begs the question: Would the FAI have managed to secure the tax clearance certificate they needed to access Government grants?

“Taoiseach, you, yourself, were a Sports Minister, and you know that Government grants are paid on foot of a tax clearance certificate in addition to audited accounts but should we now be looking at a system whereby organisations are required to show evidence of audit rotation with in-built time limits for each audit period before a rotation is required. Good governance requires such a system.

“The UK, for example, have introduced a system of grading their audit firms which is also used to ensure rotation. They plan to publish the grades and past performance of the large audit companies and they’ve also introduced more powerful audit oversight.”

“…Taoiseach, my questions are: Do you accept that there is an issue with the same external audit firm, having an audit contract with the same organisation for 23 years or indeed anything near it?

The EU Statutory Audit Regulations in 2016 are supposed to introduce that but I don’t understand why that hasn’t happened and would you support making such a rotation system a pre-requisite for Government grant funding in addition to tax clearance certificates?

In response, Mr Varadkar said:

“Thanks deputy, I don’t want to cast aspersions on any particular audit firm, nor on the many thousands of very good people who work in that particular firm. But I do think the deputy asks good question and makes a very good point.

“And it is a principle of good corporate governance, that organisations shouldn’t be audited by the same people for ever and ever and ever again. So I think that’s something, certainly, that Sport Ireland, and other public bodies should examine as to whether it is made a condition of Government grant aid – that auditors are rotated after a period of time.

“And the same applies to board members as well. We often see a situation in a lot of organisations that we fund, whether its charities, whether its sporting bodies, whether its local task force and so on, where you have the same people on the board for 10, 20, you know, 25 years and that’s not good corporate governance either.

“You should have a rotation of board members too so I think they are definitely areas where I think Government can be more active in requiring turnovers of auditors and turnovers of board members as a condition of funding in the future.”

“In terms of the independent audit that’s been done, that was provided to Sport Ireland to the ministers, and is now being passed on to An Garda Síochána, and the Director of Corporate Enforcement is also being notified. The purpose of the audit was to get a clearer picture of the financial and governance issues within the FAI and to chart a course for the association to deal with the serious failings in order to restore confidence and public funding to football in Ireland.

“The board of Sport Ireland considered the reports on the 27th of November, welcomed that the audit found that State funding given to FAI was expended for the purposes that it was given and I think that’s an important point that we should reassure taxpayers and the public, that the taxpayers’ money that was given to FAI was used for the purpose intended…”

Later

Murphy: “…there was a European Union statutory audit regulation introduced in 2016 and it does include mandatory reporting, or mandatory rotation over quite a long period of time. But why doesn’t that not apply here, given that was introduced in 2016?

“And that would have maybe changed the auditors and had  a fresh look at a much earlier stage?”

Varadkar: “Deputy I honestly don’t know why that doesn’t apply in this case but I will check it out and provide you with a more detailed reply. It may well be, and I’m only guessing here, that that directive applies to bodies that are majority, or majorly publicly funded, whereas this is abode that received only a small proportion of its funding from the Government. But that’s just my guess, that’s often the way European directives work.

“They apply to largely funded or majority funded bodies, not ones that receive a proportion of their funding from the State but, like I said, I’ll check out on that. And I will ask the Minister for Public Expenditure to examine the wider issueif public money is going to a third party, through to a voluntary body,  to charity, to an NGO, surely it is appropriate that they are properly audited and they rotate their auditors and a bit like the FAI, appropriate that they should rotate their leadership as well, their chairman, their board members, and not have the same people in charge for 10, 20, 30 years which is just bad corporate governance practice, I think we’ll all agree.”

Watch back in full here (from 34.30)

Previously: Vanessa Foran: Let’s See That Again In Slow Motion

UPDATE:

Fiachra Ó Cionnaith tweetz:

The FAI has declined to attend a meeting of the Oireachtas sports committee tomorrow which was due to discuss the ongoing financial issues at the organisation.

From top: The proposed development of the new National Maternity Hospital at St Vincent’s University Hospital Campus; Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall and Fine Gael TD Heather Humphreys in the Dáil yesterday

Yesterday afternoon.

Róisín Shortall TD, Social Democrats co-leader, called on the Government to ‘come clean’ on the position between the Vatican and the State on the New National Maternity hospital, and to halt further spending until ownership is resolved. She said:

“Despite commitments given by Minister Harris in the Dáil a year ago, we’re still waiting to see if the State will own the new hospital, despite being continuously promised that it was to be sorted out and legally secure months ago”, she said.

“It is reckless of the Government to spend €43m on the first phase of the National Maternity Hospital before any resolution of the ownership of the new hospital.

“The new National Maternity Hospital must be fully in public ownership and must operate with a non-denominational ethos. However, this is now dependent on approval from the Vatican.

“It is a shameful position for a Republic to be in that our badly-needed new National Maternity Hospital is waiting for Vatican permission before we can proceed.

It is not clear when or if the Vatican will give their approval for the disposal of the site.

This Government must stop putting further public monies at risk until ownership and ethos is legally secure. As it stands, the delivery date of 2024 is very unlikely to be met, but without clarity on legal ownership, it is a huge risk to continue to pour money into something that is still in private hands.”

Meanwhile…

Earlier yesterday, during Leaders’ Questions, Ms Shortall had the following exchange with Fine Gael TD Heather Humphreys…

Róisín Shortall: “It is over seven years since the move of the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, to St. Vincent’s was first announced. While we know that the care in Holles Street is excellent, the building is antiquated and the conditions are unacceptable for patients and staff. Progress on the new hospital has been painfully slow, though.

“It is over two years since a row broke out between Holles Street and St. Vincent’s about governance structures and the Minister for Health appointed Mr. Kieran Mulvey to hammer out an agreement between them.

In the meantime, the public was alerted to the fact that a secret deal had been brokered between the two hospitals without any reference whatsoever to the public interest.

“It amounted to the gifting of an asset with an estimated value of approximately €350 million to private religious interests and the new hospital’s ethos being dictated by those interests.

“Is it not the case that the Minister for Health misjudged the situation as being only a tiff between two hospitals? Did he not misjudge the extent of public concern that the new maternity hospital must be fully publicly owned and operated and operate with a non-denominational ethos?

“The Minister was forced to halt the deal and respond to public concern. The Religious Sisters of Charity subsequently announced their intention to withdraw from St. Vincent’s and divest themselves of Elm Park.

“They gave undertakings that the new maternity hospital would be fully public and independent. Despite assurances from St. Vincent’s, the Religious Sisters of Charity and the Minister, however, that has not happened yet.

“Last December, the Minister for Health announced that agreement had been reached with St. Vincent’s and the new maternity hospital would be fully publicly owned. He also said that the legal documents giving effect to this would be available early in the new year, but they have not materialised as yet.

The Government, however, proceeded to allocate €43 million of public money to phase one of the hospital.

“Does the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, accept that the Government was reckless in doing that before it had title to the site concerned? Will she give an undertaking that no further public money will be allocated to the project and, therefore, put at risk of being lost to the public purse?”

Heather Humphreys: “I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The project is an important one and the Government is anxious that it proceed. The Government is fully committed to the National Maternity Hospital, which involves the development of a new maternity hospital on the campus of St. Vincent’s University Hospital at Elm Park.

“The governance arrangements for the new hospital will be based on the provisions of the Mulvey agreement, which was an agreement finalised in late 2016 between the National Maternity Hospital and the St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group, SVHG, following extensive mediation.

“The terms of the Mulvey agreement provide for the establishment of a new company that will have clinical, operational, financial and budgetary independence in the provision of maternity and neonatal services.

“This independence will be assured by the reserved powers set out in the agreement and be copper-fastened by the golden share to be held by the Minister for Health. It is important to note that the reserved powers can only be amended with the unanimous written approval of the directors and the approval of the Minister.

The religious ethos will not interfere with the provision of medical care. I am advised that the agreement ensures that a full range of health services will be available at the new hospital without religious, ethnic or other distinction.”

Micheál Martin: “Who will own the hospital?”

Humphreys: “I welcome the confirmation by the SVHG board that any medical procedure that is in accordance with the laws of the State will be carried out at the new hospital.

“I understand that the Religious Sisters of Charity resigned from the board of the SVHG some time ago and are currently finalising the process of transferring their shareholding in SVHG to a new company, St. Vincent’s Holdings CLG. I am informed that the Department of Health receives regular updates from the SVHG in respect of that share transfer.

“I understand that the Department’s Secretary General will meet the group’s chair this week to discuss a range of issues relating to the National Maternity Hospital project. Engagement is ongoing between the Department, the HSE, the SVHG and the National Maternity Hospital as regards the legal framework to be put in place to protect the State’s investment in the new hospital.

“The SVHG will provide the State with a 99-year lease of the land on which the new maternity hospital will be built, which will allow the State to retain ownership of the new facility. The State will provide an operating licence to the National Maternity Hospital DAC and the SVHG to enable the provision of health services in the newly constructed building.”

Shortall: “I do not know where the Minister got that reply, but it is at least 12 months out of date, having been overtaken by events. It is a disgrace that anyone gave her that reply to read out.

“What she described might have applied more than 12 months ago, but it certainly does not now. We are in a situation where the disposal of the site for the new maternity hospital cannot go ahead without the approval of the Vatican.

“In fairness to the Deputies present, the Minister should have had that information available to her. It has been made clear that we are waiting for the Vatican’s approval before we can proceed with the provision of a new national maternity hospital.

“Does the Minister accept that, as a republic, this is an outrageous situation to be in for the State? The new national maternity hospital’s estimated completion date was 2024, but there is no prospect of that being met.

“Does the Minister accept that it was reckless for the Government to allocate public money to this project without having title to the site? Does she accept that it is shameful that we are waiting for the approval of the Vatican in order to provide a decent national maternity hospital?”

Humphreys: “I have not had a chance to speak to the Minister on this matter, but the intent has not changed.”

Brendan Howlin: “What is meant by the phrase “the intent has not changed”?”

Humphreys: “There will be no interference in the provision of medical care in the new hospital. I want to be very clear on that intent. Doctors will carry out their duties—–”

Martin: “Who will own the hospital?”

Humphreys: “—–and a full range of health services will be available without religious, ethnic or other distinction.”

Shortall: “Will the Minister answer the questions? Will she get with the game?”

Humphreys: “The other issue—–”

Shortall: “It is a waste of time for people to come in here to ask questions only for Ministers to read out incomplete responses.”

An Ceann Comhairle: “Deputy, please.”

Humphreys: “I will ask the Minister for Health to contact the Deputy directly about the other issue she raised.”

Previously: National Maternity Hospital on Broadsheet

Transcript via Oireachtas.ie

Moments ago.

In the Dáil during Leaders’ Questions.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told Fianna Fáil Mícheál Martin that his “self-righteousness knows no limits”.

It followed Mr Martin raising concerns about hospital overcrowding and the number of patients on hospital trolleys.

In response, Mr Varadkar reminded Mr Martin of his record as Minister for Health and told him “you should be off your high horse when it comes to this one”.

Sigh.

649 patients waiting for beds in Irish hospitals (Breaking News)

Related: Healthcare chief apologises as images emerge of psychiatric patients sleeping on floor (Catherine Shanahan, Irish Examiner, November 1, 2019)

From top: *Sam eating from a cardboard sheet on Grafton Street on Tuesday night; Sinn Féin deputy leader Pearse Doherty; Tánaiste Simon Coveney in the Dáil today

This afternoon.

During Leaders’ Questions in Dáil Éireann.

Sinn Féin deputy leader Pearse Doherty raised the picture of a five-year-old boy *Sam (not his real name) eating a pasta dinner given to him by a homeless charity while kneeling on a piece of cardboard on Grafton Street in Dublin on Tuesday night.

Just over two weeks ago, the most recent figures from the Department of Housing showed there were 10,345 people (6,490 adults and 3,848 children) living in emergency accommodation in the final week of August.

The figure represent a decrease of seven adults but an increase of 70 children compared to the figures for the final week of July. 

This afternoon, Mr Doherty addressed Tánaiste Simon Coveney when he said:

“The photograph showed a five-year-old boy eating his dinner off a sheet of cardboard on the ground in this city.

“Sam is the boy in that photograph, he’s five years old. He goes to school like any other child but Sam is homeless.

“Sam and his mum live in emergency accommodation like thousands of other families in this state.

“The Homeless Street Café, the homeless group, who met Sam on Tuesday night, made clear that his mother is trying her best to provide nutritious home-cooked meals for her children

“But, like so many parents of the homeless children of this state, they live in emergency accommodation that strictly forbids them from cooking meals for their children.

“That is Sam’s life, Tánaiste. Without a home, without the comfort and security which should be a right for every children [sic] in this State.

“That’s the life of nearly 4,000 children like Sam that have been condemned to this type of nightmare.

“There is only one place our children should be on a Tuesday night. And that is safely tucked up in their beds, in their home, with their families.

“The moral stain of child homelessness in Ireland is creating a lost generation. Children who are having their childhood stolen from them, right before our eyes.

“Stunting their development, harming their education, exposing them to hardships that no child deserves and that no society should accept.

“Behind the statistics, Tánaiste, the Minister for Housing tries to bamboozle the public with, there is a stark and dark reality of our housing crisis.

“A crisis that your government has manufactured, a crisis that many are profiting from, from the suffering of others.

“We’ve over 10,000 people recorded as homeless at the end of August of this year.

“That’s the seventh month in a row where we have those figures recorded – a 365 per cent increase during a five-year period of unending, uninterrupted, economic growth.

“And these figures don’t even provide the full picture, Tánaiste, they don’t include the women and children living in domestic violence shelters, funded by Tusla, they don’t include the adults and children living in hostels that aren’t funded by Government departments.

“And they don’t include those still living in Direct Provision, despite having secured their leave to remain.

“This is the Republic that you and your government are building. These are the parents and children you’re failing, children like Sam.

“This is not a republic of opportunity that cherishes all of the children of the nation equally.

“It is a national shame.”

More to follow.

Earlier: Dear Sam

Yesterday: ‘Sam’

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar; Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin

This afternoon.

During Leaders’ Questions.

Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin raised RTÉ’s report from last night concerning an apparent “non-papers” proposal for the border – claims which were dismissed by the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on BBC this morning.

Mr Martin asked Mr Varadkar if he discussed these “non-papers” with Mr Johnson during their recent meetings and asked if he could outline their “provenance”.

He also asked Mr Varadkar if he was aware of them before last night’s report.

Mr Varadkar said he hasn’t seen the “non-papers” but he was aware of their existence.

He said:

“Their existence was public knowledge and commented on the papers – at least in the last week or two. Essentially the UK provided for non-papers to the EU task force on the basis that they be kept confidential and not be shared with member states and they were not shared with member states.”

Mr Varadkar continued to say he welcomed Mr Johnson’s comments this morning “when he disowned and distanced himself from those non-papers”.

He said had Mr Johnson not done so, it would have been “hard evidence of bad faith” on the part of the British government.

He said, in December 2017, the UK government promised Ireland and the EU that there would be no hard border and no physical infrastructure or associated controls or checks, as a consequence of the UK leaving the EU.

He added:

“We expect the British government to honour that commitment made in good faith in the withdrawal agreement.”

He also said:

“No British government should seek to impose customs posts between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland against the will of both the people in Northern Ireland and the people here in the Republic of Ireland.”

And he added:

“When the Government, when we talk about checks, we talk checks being necessary in the context of no deal. And if we face no deal on the 31st of October, if the UK decides, and it will be their decision, to leave the European Union without a deal and operate on WTO rules, then there will need to be checks – at the ports, at the airports, perhaps at business level and perhaps near the border too.

“That is just the reality of the situation. But  that is in the context of no deal. We’ve never been in the position of signing up to checks as part of a deal.”

Mr Martin responded to Mr Varadkar:

“I think, Taoiseach, you need to be careful in terms of welcoming everything that Boris Johnson said this morning because of course Boris Johnson made it clear that, he says ‘we’re going to make a very good offer, bla, bla’ and so on.

“….But if you’re trying to keep, there is a difficulty, he said, if you try to keep Northern Ireland in the Customs Union because one of the basic things of being in a country is you have a single customs perimeter and a single customs union so, in essence why he’s sort of dismissing the non-papers, the essential message of what he’s saying today is: he wants to keep Northern Ireland out of the Customs Union.

“And we’re all in agreement in this House, that Brexit makes no sense, it makes no economic sense, it makes no sense for those doing business or farming in Northern Ireland. It damages the economy all round.

“But I think it seems to me, very clear, that he’s sticking to the idea that he does not want, as part of the exit deal, any provision which would ensure and guarantee that Northern Ireland would remain within the European Union customs union.

“Would you accept that that seems to be his position right now? Or do you have other evidence to suggest that he may be willing to compromise on that?”

Mr Varadkar replied that he believes Mr Martin’s “assessment is correct”.

He added:

“It is his view that the United Kingdom should leave the European Union, whole and entire, to use his language, and that means the UK, including Northern Ireland, leaving the Customs Union.

“But as I explained to him when we met in New York, there is a reason we came up with the deal that we did, after two years of negotiations with Prime Minster May and her government. And what the backstop provides for is a single customs territory.

“It doesn’t provide for Britain or Northern Ireland to stay in the Customs Union. It provides for what’s described as a single customs territory  and that satisfied our demand and our desire that there not be customs checks, north and south.

“But also it satisfied the concerns and desires of many unionists that there not be customs checks east, west. A single customs territory designed specifically to meet that need. And that’s why we ended up with the backstop. And that’s why the backstop is actually the best solution.

“Because it avoids customs posts, north, south. It also avoids customs posts east, west, by having the entire UK within a single customs territory.”

Earlier: Border, Border

UPDATE:

Eoin (from comments) writes:

Sorry, who does Leo think he’s kidding. Boris Johnson has publicly, on several occasions, disowned the 7 December 2017 declaration. He fuppin’ well put it in writing to Donald Tusk in a letter on 19 August 2019:

“Accordingly, as I said in parliament on July 25, we cannot continue to endorse the specific commitment, in paragraph 49 of the December 2017 joint report, to “full alignment” with wide areas of the single market and the customs union. That cannot be the basis for the future relationship and it is not a basis for the sound governance of Northern Ireland.”

Thanks Eoin

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin; Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during Leaders’ Questions

This afternoon.

In the Dáil, during Leaders’ Questions.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin raised what he called “the shifting sands” in relation to the composition of the consortium which will be responsible for delivering the Government’s National Broadband Plan.

In particular he drew attention to the relationship between Granahan McCourt, owned by US billionaire David McCourt; Tetrad Corporation; and McCourt Global, which is owned by David McCourt’s billionaire brother Frank McCourt.

In doing so, he claimed the Government hasn’t been fully transparent about the financial guarantees from different entities which will underpin the project.

Mr Martin’s comments followed Justine McCarthy, in The Sunday Times, reporting at the weekend that McCourt Global were denying that they had involvement in the broadband plan, despite the Minister for Communications Richard Bruton saying they did last week.

Prior to last weekend’s report, Ms McCarthy previously reported that Frank McCourt was also at a dinner meeting that the former Minister for Communications Denis Naughten held with David McCourt in New York in July 2018.

Last Sunday Mr McCarthy reported:

“After repeated attempts to contact him [former Minister for Communications Denis Naughten] last week, Naughten said on Friday that he would reply by email to questions about his interactions with Frank McCourt. He has not done so.”

Mr Varadkar told Mr Martin today that he was “weaving one of his many conspiracy theories”.

Mr Martin started out by saying that last week Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen was told there were three investors involved the plan – Granahan McCourt, Tetrad Corporation and McCourt Global.

He said just last evening, Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley was told both Tetrad Corporation and McCourt Global had reiterated their support to final tender.

But he said, last night, in a further written reply, it emerged there will only be two investors – Tetrad Corporation and Granahan McCourt.

He added:

“And we’re also told, Deputy Dooley was, that Tetrad provided a commitment in relation to the equity only required for the project. In other words, they will contractualise a legal underpinning of €175million from the lead bidder – a far cry from the €2.4billion Taoiseach that you gave the impression in the House some time ago that they would be putting in.

There is no legal lein from what we can see on that at all.”

Mr Martin went on to raise the dinner meeting between the then Minister for Communications Denis Naughten and US business man David McCourt in July 2018 in New York, and the minutes of the same.

Mr Martin said:

Taoiseach, in hindsight, I would put it to you that that meeting held on 16th of July, 2018 in New York, between former minister [for communications Denis] Naughten and David MCourt, Frank McCourt was actually quite significant.

“It was a month before the deadline for guarantees of financial underpinning and the consortium had to be submitted. The deadline was August 15th.

“Four serious issues were discussed in relation to the project. We know that there was a need for a permanent Irish-based leadership position, the importance of the 15th of August 2018 deadline and the need for the necessary financing to be in place at the time. This deadline will be met, the minutes say.

“‘The need for any changes in the make-up of the consortium to be avoided or, if necessary, to be kept to a minimum’. ‘The importance of this issue is understood by the consortium which has been advised by Arthur Cox that as long as the consortium’s lead bidder remains unchanged, such changes should not necessitate any delay’.

“Now we now of course know that there was a change in the lead bidder actually from Enet to GMC [Granahan McCourt]. There was a change in the lead bidder and there was a change in the consortium. And there was a change in those who were financially underpinning the project.

And there’s been an impression since Taoiseach that McCourt Global have been in this from the very beginning. McCourt Global are saying they weren’t involved in this, in any shape or form. And Frank McCourt was at that meeting, Taoiseach.

Minister Naughten had to resign, he’s been less than forthcoming. He’s gone silent, he’s not available to comment on this. And I’m putting it to you Taoiseach that it’s extremely important that you would talk to the former minister and get him to give a comprehensive, transparent statement in terms of all of these meetings.

“You might confirm to me, Taoiseach, did Peter Smyth [who reviewed the plan’s process last year and found meetings Naughten had with McCourt didn’t influence the process], during his inquiries speak to Frank McCourt?

“Where will the ultimate liability fall if the plan fails? Or if Granaham McCourt Dublin Limited folded – would it fall on Tetrad Corporation to provide the equity on the National Broadband Plan?”

In response, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said there was nothing new in what Mr Martin said and that it was well known that the consortium had changed for many months.

He added:

I wasn’t at that dinner [in New York]. No current member of Government was at that dinner. Minister Naughten was, I can’t answer questions on his behalf but I am confident that all of this was covered in the independent report done on this matter carried out by Peter Smyth some months ago and that’s published and in the public domain.”

He added:

In relation to the financial guarantees, National Broadband Ireland will make available €220million in equity and working capital upfront. This will be legally required by the contract which is being finalised. There is no upfront contribution from the taxpayer. The taxpayer only contributes after the fibre is deployed, homes are passed and subsequently connected.

“The total cost of the project is between €5billion and €6billion, including VAT and contingencies with roughly half coming from the State in the form of the Exchequer subsidy and the other half from the investor and commercial revenues.”

In terms of the upfront contribution – €175million comes from Tetrad Corporation and the rest from Granahan McCourt Dublin Ireland Limited. The funding commitments will be contractualised in advance of the contract award…”

Mr Varadkar went on to say:

I understand the department has now corrected the record and clarified any confusion in relation to McCourt Global’s role. It’s role, as I outlined to the Dail last week, is one of two entities relied on for pre-qualification.

“They provided a letter of support. At final tender the equity commitments were provided by Tetrad and I’m sure Minister Bruton will be happy to clarify any further issues or to answer any further questions in this regard.”

Mr Martin said Mr Varadkar’s respond was unsatisfactory and that the information had been “dragged” from him.

He also said that, as for Mr Varadkar’s assertion that the record was corrected, this only emerged last night in PQ replies.

He added:

You can’t go on being as detached as you are. A former minister responsible for this project and this tender met with the preferred bidder on a number or occasions.

“And we were led to believe they were all innocent dinners – ‘ah sure, we’re just having a personal lunch’. They were not, come off it, Taoiseach.

“You can’t stand up here as Taoiseach of the country and say ‘no one in the current Government is involved’. For God’s sake, he was a former minister with you. You still depend on him for support.

Frank McCourt, of Global McCourt [sic], was at that dinner and they weren’t there talking about the weather.”

“…You pretended you saw no evil until all the other dinners emerged and then Denis Naughten fell on his sword. Denis Naughten, the former minister, has an obligation to talk to the House and tell us everything that took place in relation to this.”

“Gobal McCourt [sic] have now disappeared. Global McCourt [sic] have now disappeared minister, and you’re department was telling The Sunday Times two weeks ago that, your department was telling The Sunday Times two weeks ago that Global McCourt [sic] were the financial underpinners of this project in two series of articles.

“You’re confusing the [inaudible] deliberately in my view, at this stage. What are you hiding in relation to the relationships between GMC and Tetrad and Global..”

Mr Varadkar went on to say:

The fact that Deputy Naughten attended those dinners is old news. It’s been in the public domain for many months, we knew that last year. Deputy Naughten resigned from Government over six months ago and we used the interim period to make sure that this bid was sound and that it was the right one to go forward with. And an independent report was done by Peter Smyth, as the independent auditor, dealing with all these matters.”

“Deputy, deputy, deputy, calm down, deputy you need to calm down…

“Ceann Comhairle, the deputy really needs to calm down here. The Government has been very transparent on this matter.

What’s happening here is, once again, once again, Deputy Martin is weaving one of his many conspiracy theories.”

Mr Martin replied that when the controversy arose over Mr Naughten’s dinner meetings, Mr Varadkar also accused Mr Martin of creating a conspiracy theory.

“Twenty-four hours later, he resigned,” he added.

US giant McCourt Global denies backing David McCourt’s national broadband bid (Justine McCarthy, The Sunday Times, May 19, 2019)

From top: Fianna Fail leader Mícheál Martin; Taoiseach Leo Varadkar; FFl TD Stephen Donnelly at an Oireachtas health committee meeting this morning; a tweet from Health Minister Simon Harris on April 28 last, offering women free repeat smears 

This afternoon.

In the Dáil during Leaders’ Questions.

Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin raised the submission made by the former clinical director of CervicalCheck Gráinne Flannelly to the Oireachtas health committee – revealed this morning – in which she said she warned the Department of Health against offering free out-of-cycle smear tests to concerned women following the Vicky Phelan case last April.

As the Minister for Health Simon Harris previously stated he didn’t receive any warnings against the decision to offer the extra tests, Ms Flannelly’s submission has led some to claim Mr Harris misled the Dáil.

Fianna Fail TD Stephen Donnelly told the health committee this morning:

“What she [Gráinne Flannelly] says directly contradicts the minister’s position.

“And what she says suggests that the minister has, in fact, misled the Dail.”

Minister Harris has since said today:

I never received any contrary advice in relation to the provision of free repeat smear tests.

“It is clear that after the decision was made that some in the CervicalCheck programme did express some concerns about the operationalising of it.”

According to Ms Flannelly she was told of the move to offer the tests at lunchtime on April 28, 2018 – while Minister Harris announced the move at 5.13pm that evening on Twitter.

During Leaders’ Questions Mr Martin told Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that Ms Flannelly’s claim “flatly contradicts” that of Minister Harris.

He asked the Taoiseach if he’ll ask the minister to address the Dáil and explain the full sequence of events. He also said the minister’s response to the matter “lacked character”.

Mr Varadkar told Mr Martin that the minister has previously answered questions on the subject and would be happy to do so again.

He then said:

“I think your approach here and your attack here also lacks character. Remember what you said about these people, what you said about the senior people in CervicalCheck on the 1st of May [last year].

“You said that they were cold and calculating. You suggested that they may have been involved in illegality and you suggested that they could have been involved in a conspiracy.

“So perhaps you should reflect on that and if you now hold the views you hold today, you may wish to correct the record and withdraw those remarks that you made about those senior clinicians and senior people in CervicalCheck back on the first of May.

“The reality was that the situation at the time was that there were a lot of women who were really concerned about the accuracy of their smear tests. They were attending their GPs, looking for a repeat smear test.

“They were contacting the helpline looking for a repeat test, there were some doctors calling for repeat smear tests to be allowed. When it was done, patient advocates were calling for it too.

“When it was done, it was welcomed by the Opposition and it was agreed by the IMO. So this wasn’t just a decision made by the Minister for Health. And it was also made with agreement for the Chief Medical Officer.”

Ms Flannelly says she warned that the offer of extra tests would ‘fundamentally undermine the screening programme’. She resigned on the same day the offer was announced.

Last month, Mr Harris told the Dáil that before the decision was made to offer these extra tests, neither he nor his officials received advice against the move.

It’s since emerged almost 80,000 women are now waiting up to 33 weeks for results of their smear tests when the normal waiting time is five to six weeks.

Earlier: Compare And Contrast

From top: Fianna Fáil deputy leader Dara Calleary; Tánaiste Simon Coveney

This afternoon.

In the Dáil, during Leaders’ Questions.

Fianna Fail’s deputy leader Dara Calleary raised the latest homelessness figures with the Tánaiste Simon Coveney.

During his contribution, Mr Calleary mentioned an interview the Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy’s gave RTÉ’s Morning Ireland this morning in which Mr Murphy accused journalist Bryan Dobson of speaking from an “ideological” position when the broadcaster asked the politician about the Government’s record on housing and homelessness.

Mr Calleary asked Mr Coveney to “finally ‘fess up” and admit the Government’s housing plan Rebuilding Ireland – launched when Mr Coveney was Minister for Housing in 2016 – is not working.

Mr Coveney said nobody is denying the facts and the figures of homelessness in Ireland, and the emotion attached to the same, before going on to cite Rebuilding Ireland figures.

He then said:

“The truth is, deputy, we are listening to others in this house and, indeed, experts outside it. Rebuilding Ireland was always a policy initiative that would change, depending on where the pressures and demands were coming from and that is what it’s doing.

“But if you look at the number of people that we are taking out of homeless right now, it’s a higher figure than ever before.

“If you look at the number of social houses that are being delivered, it’s higher than at any point in the last decade.

The truth is there are more families and individuals coming into homelessness now than I think anyone in this house predicted.”

Mr Calleary told Mr Coveney his response was the same response he gave in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Mr Coveney said there is work to be done but the Government has “changed the housing market in Ireland” with rent pressure zones and increasing the powers of the Residential Tenancies Board.

He also said Rebuilding Ireland was a five-year housing plan and the Government is only three years into it.

Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty also raised the homelessness figures and also raised Minister Murphy’s interview on Morning Ireland.

He called on the Government to support a bill proposed by Sinn Fein TD Eoin O’Broin – aimed at preventing buy-to-let landlords from evicting tenants.

Mr Coveney said:

The truth is that this State is not the only one facing this challenge. Last year, almost 20,000 households approached housing bodies in Northern Ireland because they consider themselves homeless… and solutions have to be found there as well as here. This is a challenge that many countries are facing.”

Mr Coveney also insisted Mr O Broin’s bill will not work “legally or in practical terms”.

Watch back here

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during Leaders’ Questions this afternoon

Watch Dáil proceedings live here

This afternoon.

Earlier…

This afternoon.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney took Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil ahead of British Prime Minister Theresa May taking her Brexit withdrawal deal back to parliament, almost two months after it suffered the largest ever House of Commons defeat…

Meanwhile…

In the last 30 minutes…

The DUP has released a statement, saying:

“The Prime Minister set out a clear objective for legally binding change which would command a majority in the House of Commmons in line with the Brady amendment.

“We recognise that the Prime Minister has made limited progress in her discussions with the European Union. However, in our view, sufficient progress has not been achieved at this time.

“Having carefully considered the published material as well as measuring what has been achieved against our own fundamentalists, namely the impact of the backstop on the constitutional and economic integrity of the Union of the United Kingdom, it is clear that the risks remain that the UK would be unable to lawfully exit the backstop were it to be activated.

“The Attorney General’s legal advice is clear in his last paragraph: ‘The legal risk remains unchanged that if through no such demonstrable failure of either part, but simply because of intractable differences, that situation does arise, the United Kingdom would have, at least while the fundamental circumstances remained the same, no international lawful means of exiting the protocol’s arrangements, save by arrangement’.

“We want to see a deal with works for every part of the United Kingdom. We will support the right deal with respects the referendum result and Northern Ireland’s place as an integral part of the United Kingdom.

“The European Union has been intransigent. It is possible to reach a sensible deal which worlds for the United Kingdom and the European Union but it will require all sides to be reasonable and in deal-making mode.”

Documents don’t change Withdrawal Agreement (RTE)

Watch Dáil proceedings live here

UPDATE:

UPDATE:

Brexit: Something has changed but is it enough? (BBC)

Brexit: Blow to Theresa May’s deal as British AG Cox says legal risk remains (The Irish Times)