EMPLOYMENT MINISTER REGINA Doherty has said that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is “between a rock and a hard place” over whether he should publish the internal Fine Gael review into the Maria Bailey swing fall case.
The Dún Laoghaire TD withdrew legal proceedings she had filed against Dublin’s Dean Hotel after claiming she had been injured when she fell from a swing at the premises.
Despite dropping her lawsuit, Bailey was strongly critical of the media for its coverage of the case, saying it acted as “judge, jury and executioner” during its reporting.
Court documents lodged as part of the case stated that Bailey could not run for three months after the fall but the TD ran a 10km race three weeks after the incident.
In May, Varadkar confirmed that a Fine Gael review into the matter would be carried out “to establish all facts”.
The now completed review was undertaken by David Kennedy SC and has been viewed by Varadkar. Speaking to reporters on Friday, the Taoiseach said he cannot publish the report as those involved in the review spoke on condition it would not be published.
Appearing on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics today, Doherty was asked whether the Taoiseach should publish the review.
“I don’t know to be honest with you,” the minister said. “The report is nothing to do with me so I don’t know what’s in it other than what I read in the papers this morning.”
I think he is kind of caught between a rock and a hard place because he got the review done so that he could assess and maybe make decisions and obviously he’ll have to do that week.
“But at the same time you have to respect, I don’t know who the people were who were interviewed, but if they did it on the basis you know that they would be respected,” the Meath East TD added.
Despite the government’s position, opposition representatives including Labour leader Brendan Howlin have said the review should be published.
Speaking on the same programme, former MEP Marian Harkin said that the report should be published because it is “in the public interest”.
“It’s not a private report. I know for example because I just saw yesterday that an event in Sligo, a run, has been cancelled because they can’t afford the insurance premium. So there is a direct connection between one and the other,” Harkin said.
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