Leitrim is 'merely one elaborate social welfare scam' - former Taoiseach slammed for alleged comments

A Leitrim councillor did not hold back when he slammed former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for calling Leitrim a "welfare scam".

Cllr Paddy O'Rourke was talking to Niall Delaney on Oceanfm about Mr Varadkar's comments on Matt Cooper on the Path to Power podcast.

Mr Varadkar had stated that "the interests of farmers in the agriculture industry is by and large not in the interests of Ireland as a nation" and went on to state that farmers "still see themselves as the people who bring money and jobs into Ireland, where actually a lot of the time they bring costs on Ireland".

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Mr Varadkar also said: "People in rural Ireland are very quick to tell people in urban Ireland that ‘we're the real workers, we’re the ones paying all the bills, we’re the ones feeding the country. I think maybe we need to be a little bit more blunt in urban Ireland and say, actually that's not the case, we’re the ones paying all the bills and you’re the ones in receipt of a lot of subsidies and a lot of tax benefits that other people don’t get."

Cllr O'Rourke went back to January 2005, saying that Mr Varadkar made a disparaging remark about Leitrim as a councillor: "He said, 'There is no such place as Leitrim; it is merely one elaborate social welfare scam down there'."

Mr Delaney expressed surprise at this statement with Cllr O'Rourke assuring him, "it's on record". 

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The councillor said that in 2005, former TD Michael Colreavy who was a councillor at the time proposed a motion to support those affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and requested the motion be circulated to other councils. Mr O'Rourke said that is when the comments were made by Mr Varadkar, who was a councillor in Fingal County Council, at the time. 

He stated that an Independent member of the council whose husband was from south Leitrim "cautioned him" about the remarks.

On Mr Varadkar's recent comments he said: "Whose exports was it that carried the country through the recession; there was world demand and our production was able to step up and take advantage of that and bring hard currency into the country."

He added that when Mr Varadkar stood for election as the leader of Fine Gael, "the people who imposed him on their party and the country were the Oireachtas members". 

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Mr Varadkar famously said he wanted to lead a party for “people who get up early in the morning” with Cllr O'Rourke commenting: "Presumably, he think farmers don't get up early in the morning."

He concluded by saying that those who were "responsible for electing him as Taoiseach of the country should hang their heads in shame" before stating he "positively avoided having my picture taken with him" when he visited Leitrim.