Maria Bailey report unlikely to be published, Varadkar indicates

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he has yet to receive a report into the Maria Bailey compensation claim controversy.

Speaking in Manchester, Mr Varadkar said it was too early to say if the information would be published but indicated that it was not party policy.

“I haven’t received the report yet so it’s too early to say whether there will be any legal issues in publishing it, having not received it and having not seen it.

“What I say on this and I’ve said it before, is it’s never been the practice for a political party carrying out an internal investigation – it’s not a public inquiry, not funded by public money – it’s an internal investigation being carried out by the party.

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“It’s never been our practice to publish such reports nor I think has it been the practice of any other political party.

“So I don’t think there should be anything unusual about that.”

Public scrutiny

Mr Varadkar was asked if it would be worthwhile to publish it, given the level of public scrutiny of the issue.

“I don’t believe so, but I haven’t read it or received it so I’ll have to make that decision,” he said.

Fine Gael has appointed a barrister, David Kennedy SC, to “establish all the facts” around Ms Bailey’s now withdrawn action against the Dean Hotel in Dublin, where she alleged she suffered injuries after falling from a swing in the hotel bar in July 2015.

Mr Varadkar said he will be ordering all future Fine Gael election candidates to fully disclose their involvement in any legal proceedings in the wake of the controversy.