Coveney says Varadkar’s policy comment was ‘smart assed’

Fine Gael leadership candidate Simon Coveney said his competitor Leo Varadkar was being "smart assed" when he said Mr Coveney had no policies.

The Minister for Housing was asked what he thought about Mr Varadkar’s quip that he couldn’t comment on Mr Coveney’s policies because he had not seen any.

Mr Coveney told RTÉ’s Sean O’Rourke Show: “that’s Leo being smart assed”.

“Anybody who knows me, knows that policy is the centre of everything.”

Coveney claims TDs and Senators switched allegiance to Varadkar in leadership contest

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One-third of Fine Gael electorate are in Simon Coveney’s base

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Varadkar secures support of more than half FG councillors

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Fine Gael leadership: Members say Coveney works hard and Varadkar has appeal

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Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar has a clear lead among the parliamentary party and is also ahead with the party’s county councillors, according to The Irish Times tracking poll.

However, Mr Coveney maintains he can still win the leadership race and is “very optimistic” about it.

Mr Coveney called on party members to vote on the basis of what they think is best for the country first and secondly for what is best for the party.

He added that the leadership race was not personal.

“I think Leo would do a great job as Taoiseach, but I’ll do a better job.”

Mr Coveney added that neither he nor members of his campaign had offered cabinet positions to anyone as an inducement to vote for him.

He said he had made no secret of the fact that five of the 46 Oireachtas members who had declared in favour of Leo "need" to change their minds.

“The real power base in Fine Gael is in the 20,000 members who influence their Oireachtas members through their vote.”

“Fine Gael needs to be a party that asks if people can’t get up in the morning, why can’t they? How can we help them?”

Traction

Mr Coveney said he wanted to change the nature of politics.

He also said that Fianna Fáil will test the new Fine Gael leader "hard for the next few weeks".

“They won’t want to see Fine Gael get any traction. But either of us will handle them.”

He said that if he becomes Taoiseach he will spend a lot of time in Northern Ireland. "I am a nationalist. I believe in a United Ireland.

“If the peace process is going to move forward then we need to move on to the next phase. We have to recognise that the past is the past. I don’t believe we should be holding people’s past against them forever.”

However, he said he did not see a coalition with Sinn Féin ever happening because of the difference in policy.

When asked about the behaviour of some members of his campaign team, he said: “some people may have strayed outside the boundaries a bit.”

He said that party colleague Kate O’Connell “wears her heart on her sleeve”.

“She is good for politics. She is very competitive and likes to win and is an important part of my team.”

On being asked how both sides work together after the leadership battle, he said “we will all work together. We are all on the same side essentially.”

The party needs to go in a new direction, he said.

“And I’m the best placed to do that.”