Le cúplá lá anuas, tá admhaithe ag an Tánaiste gur thug sé cáipéis rúnda dá chara ina raibh 130 leathanach agus achan cheann dóibh marcáilte mar rúnda agus nach raibh cead ann é a thabhairt d'aon duine. Tá a fhios againn, agus ag madraí an bhaile, anois go raibh an rud a rinne an Tánaiste contráilte ach tá níos mó eolais de dhíth orainn faoi seo. This week, the Tánaiste admitted to leaking a confidential document, marked "Not for circulation", to a friend of his. The Tánaiste admitted that he was wrong to do so. Th…

Somebody requesting a confidential document is an official request to the Taoiseach. The Tánaiste was the Taoiseach at the time. It falls under the Freedom of Information Act and it is very clear. There has been a judgment in relation to this in the past. Therefore, it is an official record. There was not just one communication the Tánaiste had with Dr. Ó Tuathail in relation to this document. The Tánaiste had at least one more communication that we know of. Are both records deleted from the Tánaiste's phone? Were …

I want to raise an issue but first let me make this point. It is not a joke. When somebody requests an official secret document from the Tánaiste and he decides to destroy or delete that record and not pass it on to his Department, it is not a joke. I just want to make that point. It is not finished yet. We need those records released: the contract the Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, gave the Tánaiste, the contract he got from the Secretary General and all communication. It should be done at this stage. We have been…

In finishing his speech, the Minister indicated his hope that the Bill could be discussed and scrutinised in the normal constructive way. I agree with part of that sentiment, as there has always been constructive engagement, although we might disagree sometimes on parts of the contents of the Bill. The reality is that this year there will not be normal scrutiny. In all the time I have been here dealing with finance Bills, this will be the biggest challenge because of the question of the pandemic and the settings an…

Maitiú Ó Tuathail certainly did not have to exaggerate because he obtained from the Tánaiste a document that had "Confidential: Not for circulation" on its front cover, a document which the Tánaiste wrote on the top corner: "Subject to amendments and changes". Where did the Tánaiste obtain a copy of the document that he provided to Maitiú Ó Tuathail? Did he receive it at Cabinet? Was the document that he furnished to Dr. Ó Tuathail an original or did he copy the document? Was the document requested by Maitiú Ó Tuat…

Who in the Department of Health provided the Tánaiste with the copy and did he request it at the time for that purpose? Could he also outline to me when Maitiú Ó Tuathail requested the document from him?

When?

Was it after Maitiú Ó Tuathail requested the document from him?

Did the Tánaiste check his text messages?

When did he request the document from the Tánaiste?

Okay. Has the Tánaiste checked with the Department when he actually requested the document from the Department to give to Maitiú Ó Tuathail?

Why did the Tánaiste get the second copy? Was it only for the purpose of providing that copy to Maitiú Ó Tuathail?

Seriously?

Did the Tánaiste just happen to then give it to Maitiú Ó Tuathail without knowing whether Maitiú was looking for it before he actually requested it?

He was given a commitment.

Could the Tánaiste indicate "Yes" or "No" whether he told anybody in the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Health, the IMO or the HSE that he was providing a copy of this document that has "Confidential: Not for circulation" to his friend, Maitiú Ó Tuathail?

So the Tánaiste did not tell anybody. Is he aware that the NAGP's head office is across the road? It is actually on Kildare Street. Is he aware of that, as a GP and a former Minister for Health?

Okay.

Okay, so the Tánaiste decided instead to seek out Maitiú Ó Tuathail's home address and to put this contract into an envelope and post it off to him instead. In her defence of the Tánaiste's actions, the Minister for Justice told RTÉ radio this was not the first contact. There had been engagement with the NAGP throughout the negotiations. Is that statement true, and if so, could the Tánaiste tell the Dáil what engagement there was between the Department and the NAGP from the resumption of the talks in October 2018 t…

Let us get to the bottom of it, because the Government did not keep the NAGP involved. The Tánaiste regurgitated that statement about the commitment again in his statement to the Dáil today. I am sure the Tánaiste has been making a lot of inquiries in recent days. There was no engagement between the Department of Health and the NAGP from October 2018, on the resumption of the talks, to the time the talks were completed. If the Tánaiste disputes that he should publish the records within the Department of Health.