General Practitioner Contract: Statements
Dail Éireann — 2020-11-03
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Peadar Tóibín (AON), Meath West

The Tánaiste left no paper trail whatsoever. There was no cover letter and he told absolutely nobody. He sent the document, breaching the confidence of those participants in the contract, to a friend. He said that there was no material benefit involved, but of course there was; knowledge is power. When an individual gives confidential information to someone, it increases his or her influence with that individual or group. In addition, Dr. Ó Tuathail's organisation was a competitor to the IMO which actively sought to take members from the IMO. There was absolutely material benefit to be achieved by different organisations.
I asked the Tánaiste a question. What was his motivation, at that time, for doing this in secret? Why did he do so? I am not asking whether he would do differently on another occasion. Why, on the occasion about which we are now talking, did he do this in secret?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2020-11-03/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:48:44+00:00
Sitting date: 2020-11-03