Leo Varadkar story in The Village??? - Mod Notes and banned Users in OP updated 16/05

Deleted User wrote: »

Nothing. The IMO made the agreement public a week before the events published in the village.

You've no idea what you're talking about.please log off.

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

I'd say they are all at it. Just matters if you are caught.

I'd say cowen was saying that a few months ago.

The Journal have a Timeline on the contract negotiations in 2019
https://www.thejournal.ie/leo-varadk...urce=shortlink

Summary
1970
Previous General Medical Services (GMS) contract signed

2008
2008 financial crash. FEMPI legislation cuts funding.

2013,
NAGP formed for doctors after pension pay-outs at the IMO had angered some members. However, the NAGP was not signed up to the framework with the department. It was also not under the umbrella of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

2014
High Court case on related competition issues. IMO determined to be the sole negotiating body on behalf of doctors in a framework agreement with the Department of Health.

August 2016
new contract mooted. Health Minster Simon Harris said he wanted the NAGP involved. The drive to get a new GMS contract faltered

June 28 2018.
New drive for GMS contract following stories that medical card patients were being refused reimbursements for blood tests taken by GPs. Fianna Fáil health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly asked Simon Harris about the matter because the GP negotiations had been ongoing for a number of months. Donnelly said the NAGP had written to the Minister repeatedly “but it cannot even get a letter in response to say when he expects its representatives to be in the room”. It has received one letter from the Government stating that at some point in the future, the Government will engage with the association.”


6 February 2019
Senator Colm Burke told Harris at an Oireachtas Health Committee hearing that members of NAGP would be protesting later that day as they did not feel part of the ongoing negotiating process. Harris said it was a “fair point” but that his department engages with the IMO on contractual matters.

3 April 2019
talks concluded on Wednesday, with the new GP contract agreed between the IMO, Department of Health and HSE.

Friday, 5 April
IMO issued a press release which announced details of the negotiated agreement

Saturday, 6 April
The above-mentioned statement was issued by government with Varadkar and Harris welcoming the agreement with the IMO. The release did not contain much granular detail about what the draft contract contained.

Between 11-16 April 2019
The then-Taoiseach provided a copy of the full agreement to Dr Maitiu Ó Tuathail, president of the NAGP.

16 April 2019
a debate on General Practitioner Contractual Reform took place in the Dáil. During the same debate, the Fianna Fáil health spokesperson (and now Minister for Health) Stephen Donnelly said it was good to get some detail of the deal, given that the exercise had been very frustrating to date.
He raised concerns, as did other party spokespeople including Labour’s Alan Kelly, Social Democrats’ Róisín Shortall and Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly, that they had not seen sight of the agreement ahead of the debate.
“The outline of the deal was agreed about two weeks ago. The GPs have not seen it, the public have not seen it, and we have not seen it. We are being given pages of facts and figures now. We have not seen them before. I have asked the Department for them and I have asked the HSE. We have been denied access to any of the detail. We are sort of expected to stand up here now and respond,” Donnelly said at the time.
Donnelly said health spokespeople for the political parties should have had the information on the deal ahead of time, “days in advance”, he said, adding:
In fact, we should have had it the day after it was agreed with the IMO.” Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly said during the debate that the deal was done two weeks ago, saying “it is unfortunate that I did not have more detail in advance of the debate”.
However, former Independent TD and GP Michael Harty revealed he had seen more details of the deal.
The County Clare deputy told the Dáil he had a copy of the agreement in his possession, and said the agreement was “still under discussion at IMO meetings”.
“I may have an advantage, being an IMO member, in that I have in my possession a document which outlines, in broad brush strokes, what is contained in the agreement,” he said. Former Wexford TD Mick Wallace said during the debate:

“Only 20% of GPs are IMO members, 40% are members of the NAGP, while 40% are not members of any union. This new contract has been negotiated without the input of the vast majority of GPs or their representative bodies. The vast majority of GPs have still not seen the new GP contract. Only one-in-five GPs have seen the contract via the IMO.”
The health minister clarified at the end of the debate that GPs had begun a process of intense consultation, which took place in Dublin the night previous.

17 May 2019.
The Department of Health published the entire text of the IMO deal.

22 May 2019
Results of the ballot of IMO members were announced with 95% of GP members of the IMO across the country supporting the signing of the contract.

blanch152 wrote: »

Pretty fair statement, so long as Leo told the truth today, this should go away.

I do believe it might be a good idea for the leaders of FF FG GP to arrive at a gentleman’s agreement and ignore this story.

We are in a lockdown and we have had tremendous success in reducing “R”

We should concentrate on this massive success and concentrate our news reporting solely on COVID.

We’re rounding the turn on the virus and this is THE news story

No other story is of interest

Cute Hoor wrote: »

Extract from the Official Secrets Act 1963
PART II

Official Information

Disclosure of official information.

4.—(1) A person shall not communicate any official information to any other person unless he is duly authorised to do so or does so in the course of and in accordance with his duties as the holder of a public office or when it is his duty in the interest of the State to communicate it.

(2) A person to whom subsection (1) applies shall take reasonable care to avoid any unlawful communication of such information.

Did you read section 4(4) and also the interpretation section? They are pretty integral parts of the Act and you left them out of your copy and paste.

Bubbaclaus wrote: »

Did you read section 4(4) and also the interpretation section? They are pretty integral parts of the Act and you left them out of your copy and paste.

Stick em up

Sorolla wrote: »

I do believe it might be a good idea for the leaders of FF FG GP to arrive at a gentleman’s agreement and ignore this story.

We are in a lockdown and we have had tremendous success in reducing “R”

We should concentrate on this massive success and concentrate our news reporting solely on COVID.

We’re rounding the turn on the virus and this is THE news story

No other story is of interest

The next four weeks are crucial

blanch152 wrote: »

As the Taoiseach, if he believed it was in the interests of the State to get the majority of GPS to sign up to the deal (and all indications are that it was), and that would be helped by giving the document to the person he gave it to, then there was no breach of the Official Secrets Act, I mean, who else would he have to ask?

He needed to get permission from his mother.

Bubbaclaus wrote: »

You had people on the thread this morning calling for 10 years jail time for this. Laughable and sad.

Now that is funny all right.

Some of the bile on this thread is eye-opening.

Some people just don’t like a successful gay son of an immigrant, do they?

Cute Hoor wrote: »

This is 4.(4) In this section “duly authorised” means authorised by a Minister or State authority or by some person authorised in that behalf by a Minister or State authority.

What 'Minister or State authority' authorised him to release the Confidential document, or are you suggesting that any 'Minister or State authority' can release any/all Confidential documents without recourse to any other individual/authority.

He was the Taoiseach, he could authorise himself!!!!!

Some of the stuff people are posting is hilarious.