Leo Varadkar has “lost the dressing room” in the wider Fine Gael party over the leaks controversy, a senior TD has claimed.
The Tanaiste is feeling the heat within his own party as detectives prepare to interview him in the coming weeks.
Mr Varadkar is at the centreof a criminal investigation into whether his admitted leaking ofa draft €210million GP contract marked “confidential” was a crime.
Sinn Fein have called on him to resign as they believe his positionis politically untenable.
Labour supported a motion of no confidence in him last November, and last week they said they now – as they did then – believe he should resign over the issue.
And members of their Fianna Fail partners in Government, Marc MacSharry and Jackie Cahill, have called on him to stand down.
But the most worrying development for Mr Varadkar is coming from within his own party, where dissent among the ranks is starting to surface.
One respected senior Fine Gael TD told the Irish Mirror how he reads the mood of the party.
He said: “It’s not even about whether the guards come along with the charges, he’s shipping huge political damage over all of this.
“I think it’s safe to say it is the biggest political crisis he’s faced in his career and it’s starting to affect the party, which is where TDs become concerned.
“I think, and I’m definitely not alone in this, he’s lost the dressing room among a lot in the wider party, and yeah, with some TDs too.
“He still has the solid support of all his ministers, he made them ministers I suppose, but he’s not going to be able to bank on blanket support from the rest of us anymore.”
The Irish Mirror revealed last month the criminal investigation into Mr Varadkar was under way and it was confirmed by gardai last week.
The Fine Gael leader is awaiting a date with detectives in the coming weeks over his leaking of the confidential document to a pal in April 2019. The incident saw the then-Taoiseach leak a €210million Irish Medical Organisation draft GP contract to Dr Maitiu O Tuathail.
He was head of the IMO’s rival, the National Association of General Practitioners, at the time.
Mr Varadkar has protested his innocence and told Pat Kenny on Newstalk last week: “I didn’t do anything illegal, corrupt, or self-interested. There was no personal gain, no personal benefit.”
