Fianna Fáil has confirmed it hired Ivan Yates during the presidential campaign to provide four hours of “interview and debate training” for its candidate Jim Gavin but said the former Fine Gael minister was not involved in its campaign team.
Three Fianna Fáil ministers have confirmed they also received media training from Mr Yates. Minister for Housing James Browne and Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien were both coached by Mr Yates, as was Minister for Children Norma Foley before the last general election.
It is understood this training would have been paid for from the secretarial allowance, a publicly funded allowance for ministers that covers public relations expenses.
Controversy has surrounded Mr Yates since it emerged he provided coaching to Mr Gavin before the candidate ended his presidential bid. It has sparked an internal Government row.
After Mr Yates’s work with Mr Gavin emerged, Coimisiún na Meán, the media regulator, said it would be contacting major Newstalk and RTÉ to seek more information about the work Mr Yates did for them during the presidential election.
Mr O’Brien said he received three media training sessions from Mr Yates while serving as minister for housing in the last government. A spokeswoman for the Fianna Fáil TD said he “has not availed of media training since he was appointed Minister for Transport and Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment”.
[ Former Fine Gael minister Ivan Yates no stranger to controversyOpens in new window ]
Mr Yates is a former bookmaker and broadcaster who was a co-host of the Path To Power political podcast with Today FM’s Matt Cooper. His role on the podcast came to an end after the news of him coaching Mr Gavin emerged.
In a statement on Monday morning, Fianna Fáil said Mr Yates had not worked with the party beyond September 29th.
It said the commentator was hired for two specific debate programmes, with the focus on “the practicalities of in-studio interviews”.
It said it uses a range of media skill consultants “like all political parties”.
“He did not provide any campaign advice, nor was he involved in the campaign team,” the party said.
Mr Browne, a Fianna Fáil TD, was coached for media interviews by Mr Yates this year, since becoming a Minister in January.
Mr Yates’s work with Mr Browne was not declared to listeners of the Path to Power podcast, including when the Minister for Housing was discussed on the podcast.
An episode on May 2nd focused on the fallout of the controversy over Mr Browne’s plan to appoint National Asset Management Agency chief executive Brendan McDonagh to the role of the Government’s new Housing Activation Office.
Mr Yates described the dispute between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil over the appointment as “almost FUBAR territory” , meaning “f**ked up beyond all recognition”.
Of Mr Browne, Mr Yates said “coming into this situation, it’ll take him at least a year to get it all in his head. And it looks like he’s going to be in the exact same situation as Eoghan Murphy, that he is going to be collateral damage in all this.”
The Path to Power podcast said it “had no knowledge of any professional relationship between the Minister and Ivan Yates”.
Mr Yates has been approached for comment.
A Newstalk spokeswoman said Mr Yates operated as a cover presenter on the station for three days during the presidential campaign.
“Ivan Yates did not inform Newstalk of any conflict of interest relating to the presidential election campaign … This matter is currently under review.”
RTÉ said Mr Yates was interviewed three times about the election but not during the election period as defined by Coimisiún na Meán.
It has asked him why he did not disclose his involvement with one campaign and said that, had it been informed, it would have advised him it would have to be disclosed to the audience. RTÉ said it is satisfied it did not breach election guidelines.