Varadkar on leak inquiry
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said allegations made against him regarding the leak of a GP pay deal contract were false and politically motivated, days after a file on the matter was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Speaking to reporters in California on Wednesday, Mr Varadkar declined to comment in detail on the basis he did not wish to say anything that might be seen to apply undue pressure on the DPP.
“But what I do want to say, and I am going to re-emphasise this, the allegations that were made against me were false, they were politically motived,” he told RTÉ.
“I did not commit any crime. I did not do anything corrupt. In fact I didn’t even do anything self-interested. And I think when this is over that will be clear to any reasonable person.”
Google committed to Ireland
A global tax deal will make "no difference" to Google's operations in Ireland as the company remains committed to investing and adding staff to its European hub in Dublin, chief executive Sundar Pichai has said.
"We are going to continue to invest – we have invested over €1.5 billion over the past five years in Ireland and that gives an indication of how we are committed to the country," Pichai told RTÉ.
Pichai was speaking after meeting the Tánaiste, who was leading a trade mission to the west coast of the United States.
Following separate meetings with Apple's chief executive Tim Cook and Microsoft's president Brad Smith, Mr Varadkar told RTÉ that he expected both to be among other companies that will increase their presence in Ireland over the coming years.
Turf vote
The Government has survived a Dáil vote to scrap an upcoming ban on the commercial sale of turf.
On Wednesday night, the Dáil voted on a Sinn Féin motion seeking to cancel the carbon tax increase and scrap Government plans to restrict the sale of turf later this year.
The Government successfully saw off the motion opposing the planned curtailment of turf sales by 72 votes to 63.
Irish oil stocks
Meanwhile, Fuels for Ireland chief executive Kevin McPartland moved to reassure the public that oil stocks in the country are sufficient and that it was “exceptionally unlikely” there would be fuel rationing in the near future.
Ireland was “pretty well-prepared” with an emergency plan in place should Russia stop supplying oil to Europe, he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
Stock levels were being monitored continuously, and he was “pretty confident” at the current situation, he added.
