AG mediated internal Fine Gael dispute over mica scheme

Attorney general Rossa Fanning mediated an internal Fine Gael dispute over the controversial mica scheme after TD Joe McHugh resigned the party whip. Fanning – in unpublished correspondence – gave party political advice to Leo Varadkar, warning that a mica candidate might win a seat in the next election, after he held a private meeting with the Donegal TD.

He told Varadkar the issue was “politically very sensitive” and advised that the Electoral Commission’s work on constituency boundaries may influence whether a mica candidate would be successful in an election.

Fanning said in the letter he told McHugh he would speak to Varadkar in an attempt at "advancing the resolution of any of his concerns".

Fanning's role as a broker for internal party matters could be considered inappropriate given his constitutional role as the government’s chief legal adviser and the previous suggestion that he “was not seen to be political”.

Earlier this year The Ditch reported that SIPO was seeking answers from Fanning in 2023 during its probe into a political donation he made to Varadkar in 2018.

‘Politically very sensitive’

Attorney general Rossa Fanning met with Fine Gael Donegal TD Joe McHugh on 8 February, 2023 at the attorney general’s office on Merrion Street, Dublin 2.

The meeting came after McHugh resigned the Fine Gael party whip in July 2022 over the government’s introduction of legislation for a new scheme for defective block homeowners. McHugh said he wasn’t satisfied with the scheme, comments his constituents have echoed.

The day after meeting with McHugh, the attorney general briefed taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

“As you are well aware, deputy McHugh has long-standing and well-documented concerns about the remediation scheme provided for householders affected by Mica. This will not in any way be news to you in circumstances where deputy McHugh has resigned the whip and left the Fine Gael parliamentary party over the issue,” wrote Fanning in his letter to Varadkar dated 9 February, 2023.

In his letter Fanning told Varadkar that McHugh “left (him) in no doubt that the mica issue remained a politically very sensitive issue in Donegal”.

“He (McHugh) expressed the view that a mica candidate stood a reasonable possibility of success in the next general election depending on the reconfiguration of the constituencies after the Electoral Commission has completed its work later this year,” warned Fanning.

Fanning told Varadkar he informed McHugh he would speak to the taoiseach about the Donegal TD's concerns.

"l indicated to him that I would discuss the meeting with him and that I would provide a note to you of our discussion before discussing with you the best way of advancing the resolution of any of his concerns," he wrote.

According to the government information website gov.ie, “The attorney general is the government’s lawyer. The attorney general provides the government, its ministers and their departments with legal advice on policy, legislation and litigation.”

Fanning has strong links to Fine Gael. In the past he made political donations to friend and ex-Fine Gael party leader Leo Varadkar, who appointed him attorney general in December 2022.

Fanning and Varadkar have been contacted for comment.