#FactCheckIT: Claims made during the RTÉ leaders debate

All the party leaders did enough in the RTÉ Prime Time debate to keep their supporters happy and leave with their reputations in tact.

The leaders of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and Sinn Féin all faced tough moments under questioning from host Miriam O'Callaghan which prompted some scrambling for answers on occasion.

The Irish Times has looked at the credibility of some of the major claims made in the heat of the debate.

1. Taoiseach Enda Kenny accepted responsibility for appointing John McNulty to a State board shortly before his nomination as a Fine Gael Seanad candidate.

TRUE, BUT...

This runaway train of a story dominated political discourse in the autumn of 2014.

At the height of the controversy, which was a major political embarrassment for the Government, Minister for Arts Heather Humphreys made a cryptic comment that she was “not at liberty to say” who suggested Mr McNulty’s name to her.

At the end of September 2014, Mr Kenny told the Dáil: “My own standards were let slip and my own sense of integrity and trust did not measure up,” but many opponents and observers said it was not clear what exactly he was apologising for.

Last night, Mr Kenny said he had made an appointment that did not need to be made, prompting Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams to tell debate host Miriam O'Callaghan that she had a "scoop" as the Taoiseach had never accepted responsibility for the debacle before.

But speaking to reporters at RTÉ after the debate, Mr Kenny appeared to backtrack somewhat, merely saying he accepted responsibility for the appointment by the line minister.

He said the McNulty controversy was not his finest hour and he had changed the procedures for such appointments afterwards.

2. Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin brought in BreastCheck and the Government he was part of eliminated Meningitis C.

PARTLY TRUE:

Mr Martin made this big claim during the section of the debate which focused on health.

He served as minister for health in the Fianna Fail-led administration between January 2000 and September 2004.

BreastCheck began offering free breast screening to women aged 50 to 64 in the then Eastern Regional Health Authority, North Eastern and Midland Health Board areas in February 2000.

BreastCheck's first annual report contained a report from the Chief Medical Adviser and chairman of the quality assurance committee, Professor Joseph T Ennis, which said the Department of Health and Mr Martin were to be congratulated for establishing a funding strategy that guaranteed state of the art equipment, optimal facilities and the recruitment of personnel of the highest quality.

“This strategy will enable BreastCheck to achieve a significant reduction in mortality from breast cancer in Irish women,” Prof Ennis said.

However, there was a pilot screening programme in the early nineties, and the quality assurance committee was established in 1997 to report on the establishment of a national breast screening programme. The National Breast Screening Board was established in 1998. All that was before Mr Martin’s time in the Department.

Meanwhile, the national Meningitis C immunisation programme was launched in Ireland in October 2000 by Mr Martin. Every person in Ireland aged 22 or under was offered immunisation as part of this phased programme.

However, in September 2014 The Irish Times health correspondent Paul Cullen reported that a sharp rise in the incidence of meningococcal C disease was causing concern among health experts.

Meningococcus is a germ that can cause meningitis and septicaemia, as well as pneumonia and conjunctivitis.

The Irish Times reported that an eight-fold increase in the incidence of a disease that had been virtually eliminated in Ireland has prompted the Health Service Executive to offer booster vaccines to all first-year students.

3. A friend of Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams’ paid for a medical operation he had in the United States.

TRUE:

Tánaiste and Labour leader Joan Burton accused Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams of "lecturing" fellow debaters and living in "cloud cuckoo land" because he was "able to jet off to America for a special procedure".

Mr Adams replied that he had told Ms Burton “a million times” what had happened.

“A friend of mine paid for an operation which at that time was not available on the island of Ireland. My GP told me that. My GP advised me to take that,” he said.

Mr Adams stressed that taxpayers had not paid for the operation, which took place in the summer of 2012.

In February 2013, The Irish Times reported the procedure was for a prostate condition.

The operation, estimated to cost €30,000, was paid for by Bill Flynn, former chief executive of insurance giant, Mutual of America.

It involved an overnight stay in hospital and it is believed Mr Adams spent some days staying at the home of a friend as he recuperated from the procedure.

A Sinn Féin support group in the US, Friends of Sinn Féin, paid for his flights.

4. Only Labour will deliver a referendum on the Eighth Amendment, according to Tánaiste and Labour leader Joan Burton.

UNCLEAR:

The issue was not raised as a topic during the debate, but was mentioned in passing in Ms Burton’s concluding remarks.

Unlike coalition partners Fine Gael, Labour is clearly campaigning for a repeal of the Eighth Amendment, which provides for the equal right to life of the mother and the unborn.

The 1983 Amendment, which governs the State’s abortion laws, enshrined that right in the Constitution.

Labour and Sinn Féin’s position on abortion is not dissimilar. Last week Ms Burton said she welcomed the fact that Sinn Féin had debated the issue and had come to the decision it wanted to see the Eighth Amendment repealed.

A number of Independents and smaller party representatives share this view.

However, Labour insists that it is the only party “offering itself for government” that is proposing to repeal the Amendment, and has published the scheme of a Bill providing for the conditions under which abortion could be carried out legally in Ireland that it would introduce in the event of appeal.

While Sinn Féin insists it could lead what it describes as a “progressive, left-wing” government, Ms Burton’s stated view is that Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil are merely “auditioning to beat each other so that they can lead the Opposition”.

So if Labour is involved in post-election coalition negotiations, there is no doubt securing a referendum would form a key demand for the party.

But in September 2015, Ms Burton was pressed on whether or not the issue would be a non-negotiable deal-breaker.

“We will have that in our election platform and hopefully we will be a key part of the next government. We will be discussing that as part of any negotiations. But I personally never use terms like ‘red line’,” she said at that time.

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