Does he have a point?
Fianna Fáil T.D. Willie O’Dea is not impressed that Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar has landed a role presenting a late night talk show on RTÉ Radio.
O’Dea issued the following in response to the news that Varadkar, the former Minister for Health, will be hosting the popular Late Date music show on RTÉ Radio 1.
“Leo Varadkar is a marvel,” he wrote. “As Minister for Health and now as Minister for Social Protection, he has turned on their head the traditional, constitutional notions of Cabinet Minister, where a person is appointed by the Taoiseach and well paid by the State to take responsibility for a Government department.
“Instead he has crafted a role for himself as resident chat show panellist and a sort of celebrity political commentator, where he muses on how terrible things are, and how something should be done. When it comes to actual political accountability and having a vision for the department he is responsible for, he is nowhere to be seen.
“This has now been taken to a whole new level, as we learn that he is to take up a role as some sort of stand-in late night DJ on RTÉ. The country is suffering from truly shocking levels of deprivation and the Social Protection Minister is planning to take on a radio show.”
O’Dea went on to label Varadkar, ‘the most hands-off minister in modern times.”
Varadkar was quick to hit back, telling his government colleague to ‘chill’.
Ah chill Willie. It'll be the week after Xmas & the graveyard shift. You're most welcome to ring in a request if you like.
— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) December 2, 2016
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