Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has accused his "sworn political opponents" of acting in a "politically motivated and often highly personalised" manner to publicise "false" allegations again him.
The Fine Gael leader and Minister for Enterprise also insisted that he acted "in the public interest" when he leaked a copy of an agreement between the State and the Irish Medical Organisation to a rival organisation in April 2019.
Mr Varadkar was Taoiseach at the time he gave the confidential document to Maitiú Ó Túathail, president of the National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP), whom he has acknowledged was as a friend, but said was not a "close" one.
Having received a comprehensive file in April of this year, the Director of Public Prosecutions took three months to conclude that no charges are to be brought against the Tánaiste or anyone else.
Yesterday's announcement effectively clears the way for Mr Varadkar to take up the post of Taoiseach in December, as per the terms of the Coalition agreement.
There had been concern in Government circles that, had a prosecution been pursued, it could have adversely affected Mr Varadkar resuming the role.
While the Tánaiste admitted he had made an "error" in using an "inappropriate" informal channel, he said that the results of the "thorough and meticulous" garda investigation has confirmed that he "did not break any law, do anything corrupt" or, he claimed, "even self-interested".
Detectives from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation interviewed Mr Varadkar as part of their inquiry.
Responding to the DPP decision, Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald said that the DPP "has now done its work".
Ms McDonald said that she respected the decision and "that was that."
"The Tanaiste had acknowledged that the document in question was leaked and he has acknowledged that that was wrong," she said.
"It was wholly wrong."
Ms McDonald said in "a political sense ... it's not a way to go about business leaking sensitive documents from Cabinet".
In a statement today, Mr Varadkar insisted that his motivation was "to secure that organisation's support [NAGP] for the agreement we had reached with another organisation [IMO] on behalf of General Practitioners".
In 2020, Mr Varadkar apologised for "errors of judgement". Today, he repeated that apology.
Statement by Tánaiste and Fine Gael Leader, Minister Leo Varadkar TD:
On Wednesday, I was informed by my solicitor that the DPP had determined that I have no case to answer in relation to my disclosure of a document to the then President of the NAGP in 2019.
This followed a thorough and meticulous investigation carried out by An Garda Síochána involving dozens of interviews and the examination of multiple documents and devices.
My disclosure of the document to the President of the NAGP was lawful and I did so in the public interest. I was determined to secure that organisation's support for the agreement we had reached with another organisation on behalf of General Practitioners.
I accept that my use of an informal personal channel was inappropriate. It was my error and I bear sole responsibility for it. I have been held to account for those actions in the Dáil. I have apologised for it and I want to do so again.
However, the allegations made against me, that it was anything more than error, were false. They were made by sworn political opponents of me and my Party.
I know that I did not break any law, do anything corrupt or even self-interested. That is now clear to any fair-minded person.
Those who made these allegations went to extraordinary lengths to publicise them. Their actions were politically motivated and often highly personalised at times. The tactics and motives of those persons ought to be the subject of some reflection. It is now a matter of public record that at least one of those persons was subject to investigation in respect of their own conduct in this affair.
I want to clarify a few points once again:
· The document was as it was entitled – 'An agreement on service delivery and contractual reform.’ It was not a contract. The use of the term ‘contract’ was deliberately used to create the impression that I had interfered in some sort of competition or tender process, or conferred an advantage on somebody in doing so. This was emphatically not the case.
· The document was not classified and did not go to Cabinet. Therefore, I could not have breached Cabinet confidentiality which some have claimed. While the document was marked confidential on the day it was generated, by the time I disclosed it almost two weeks later, the contents were largely in the public domain.
· The document was not a pay deal. The State cannot enter into pay deals with self-employed contractors. There was a revised fee schedule issued by the Minister following consultations. That was released and made public long before I disclosed the document.
· It has been suggested that I was investigated for a data protection offence. This was never the case. No personal data was involved.
· It was suggested that a complaint was made against me by a health official. This was not the case nor did anyone ever come forward to say they were a victim of a crime.
I want to thank the Taoiseach, Minister Ryan, the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party and Party members, my staff, family, partner and friends for their trust, confidence and faith in me and for their patience. It has been a difficult and uncertain period for all of us.
I am very aware that many people and politicians are not allowed due process, the benefit of the doubt or the presumption of innocence. I am very grateful that - because of them - I was. It is something I will reflect on further.
I also want to thank my legal advisers. I have a greater understanding now of the importance of legal representation and advice.
I look forward to continuing my work as Tánaiste, Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, TD for Dublin West and Leader of Fine Gael. These are responsibilities that I relish and there is so much more I want to do.
