Pundit and former politician Ivan Yates told TDs and Senators he “deliberately” didn’t tell his podcast co-host Matt Cooper that he provided media training to Jim Gavin during the recent presidential election. Mr Yates, a former Fine Gael TD who served as minister for agriculture in the mid-1990s, was axed from the Path to Power podcast earlier this month when it emerged he had coached Mr Gavin, Fianna Fáil’s candidate. He served as a Fine Gael TD from 1981 to 2002, and was minister for agriculture from 1994 to 1997. A number of committee members asked Mr Yates if he regretted saying that Fine Gael should “smear the bejaysus” out of Catherine Connolly during the presidential election. Mr Yates also told the committee he was concerned about plans to regulate podcasts.
