Appears very damning about Leo, though clearly ultimately the committee decided they were not able to investigate the Taoiseach.
Leo claimed the document, which was marked “confidential not for circulation”, ceased to be confidential at the point at which he shared it to his friend. He stated the existence of the agreement had been made public and secondly suggested that he as Taoiseach had ultimate authority to authorise its sharing or its reclassification; though there is no documentary evidence he did reclassify it [A defence also employed by Mr Trump].
Whether Leo shared it acting as Taoiseach, and whether it was not confidential were two factors which might prevent the standards in public office commission from investigating. Opinions within SIPO seem to have differed on whether they could investigate the Taoiseach, so the status of the document was also a key consideration.
There was evidence the document remained confidential after it was shared by Leo to his friend. In the Dail he stated it was a confidential document he shared as a confidential document. Indeed it seems the minister of health was not provided a copy when he asked for it after it had been shared to Leos friend, and the department of health gave the opinion it would be a serious breech of trust to publish it.
Ultimately the commissions majority ruling was that they couldn’t investigate the Taoiseach for executive decisions made in that role.
Two of the five commissioners involved felt strongly enough to document the details of their disagreement. The sixth commissioner recused themselves as they had worked for Leos friends org.
3 comments
That’s that then!
Slippin’ and slidin’ from The Respondent.
Appears very damning about Leo, though clearly ultimately the committee decided they were not able to investigate the Taoiseach.
Leo claimed the document, which was marked “confidential not for circulation”, ceased to be confidential at the point at which he shared it to his friend. He stated the existence of the agreement had been made public and secondly suggested that he as Taoiseach had ultimate authority to authorise its sharing or its reclassification; though there is no documentary evidence he did reclassify it [A defence also employed by Mr Trump].
Whether Leo shared it acting as Taoiseach, and whether it was not confidential were two factors which might prevent the standards in public office commission from investigating. Opinions within SIPO seem to have differed on whether they could investigate the Taoiseach, so the status of the document was also a key consideration.
There was evidence the document remained confidential after it was shared by Leo to his friend. In the Dail he stated it was a confidential document he shared as a confidential document. Indeed it seems the minister of health was not provided a copy when he asked for it after it had been shared to Leos friend, and the department of health gave the opinion it would be a serious breech of trust to publish it.
Ultimately the commissions majority ruling was that they couldn’t investigate the Taoiseach for executive decisions made in that role.
Two of the five commissioners involved felt strongly enough to document the details of their disagreement. The sixth commissioner recused themselves as they had worked for Leos friends org.