Harris rejects 'characterisation' of call with O'Donovan

Tánaiste Simon Harris has said he was pleased to see Minister for Culture Patrick O'Donovan doing well and that he is looking forward to welcoming him back to work as soon as he is medically fit to do so.

A fortnight ago, Mr Harris spoke to Patrick O'Donovan on the phone shortly before the Minister fell ill and was taken to hospital.

Yesterday, Mr Harris insisted the call was "routine" and not "heated", and made it clear he had not asked his party colleague to stand down as a minister.

Speculation has been rife in Leinster House over the events that immediately preceded Mr O'Donovan taking ill as he hosted a meeting with EU telecommunications ministers in Limerick earlier this month.

The minister, who has spoken openly about being diagnosed with epilepsy, was treated in University Hospital Limerick.

Shortly before becoming unwell in Limerick, Mr O'Donovan criticised anonymous briefings from Government and party colleagues questioning whether his ill health would result in him losing his Cabinet position.

He had described those remarks as "hurtful" and the "ultimate betrayal".

The events played out as the minister was also facing scrutiny for his handling of a €20m cut to RTÉ's funding that was announced in the Budget.

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In a statement in the days after the incident in Limerick, Mr Harris offered support to Mr O'Donovan and condemned the anonymous briefings against the minister as "hurtful" and warned they would not be tolerated within Fine Gael.

The Tánaiste was off on a two-week period of paternity leave at the time.

Having returned to work this week, Mr Harris has faced questions on the issues around Mr O'Donovan.

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Brock programme, Mr Harris said he spoke to Mr O'Donovan on the day of the meeting with EU telecommunications ministers in Limerick.

He said it is "quite a bizarre situation" that a call log is being produced on who he is speaking to and when.

He said the "characterisation of the call is not reflective of the reality".

Mr Harris said Mr O'Donovan is known for speaking his mind and being very blunt, when asked about the minister’s "ultimate betrayal" comment.

Mr Harris said the statement he issued tried to capture the hurt Mr O’Donovan felt.

"Patrick O’Donovan is doing an excellent job in Government despite having to deal with the health issues he has to deal with," he said today.

"I have a duty of care as the leader of my party to my colleagues… Patrick’s wellbeing and recovery is my priority," he said.

Mr Harris said trying to find an anonymous source from a briefing would be a "futile exercise".

He said he leads a party that is full of decent people and that he knows that people’s priority is Mr O’Donovan’s wellbeing.

He said colleagues are very upset regarding comments on Mr O’Donovan’s health.

Mr Harris said the party is a "very united team of people" that have each other’s back.

"This was a comment that should not have been made, a comment that caused significant hurt to Patrick, it was a comment that annoyed me as the leader," he added.

On the funding deficit for RTÉ, the Tánaiste said there was no bad blood between him or anyone in Government.

"The Government has reached a very significant package of support for RTÉ. Because we value public service broadcasting, we value the role RTÉ plays," he said.

"But alongside that, the Government is very clear that RTÉ has to live up to its part of the deal, and its part of the deal was to implement a reform agenda," Mr Harris said.

He said Mr O'Donovan’s job was to make sure he was satisfied that RTÉ is meeting its reforms.