Tanáiste Leo Varadkar has said he “did not commit a crime,” and “did not do anything corrupt,” regarding the passing of a confidential Government document to a friend.
Mr Varadkar addressed the controversy while on a trade mission in California and claimed the allegations made against him were “politically motivated.”
Gardaí confirmed in recent days that they have submitted a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
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He told reporters: "I am very pleased that the garda investigation is now over.
“It was a very long and thorough one and at the end of it, there was no recommendation that there should be any charges.
"The matter is now with the DPP and we await a decision.
"The allegations made against me were false, they were politically motivated.
"I did not commit any crime, I did not do anything corrupt, in fact I did not do anything self-interested and when this is over I think that will be clear to any reasonable person."
Mr Varadkar was under investigation over the April 2019 leaking of a confidential copy of a document outlining the details of the Government’s proposed GP contract with the Irish Medical Organisation to his friend Dr Ó Tuathail, who was at the time, the head of a rival organisation, the National Association of General Practitioners.
Mr Varadkar said the DPP will now decide if he has a case to answer and he did "not want to say anything that could be interpreted as me putting pressure on the DPP in any way.”
Gardaí confirmed last weekend that "an investigation file on this matter has been submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution for its consideration".
