Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This was not a social gathering, and the report is quite clear on that. These were people at work in their workplace who then breached guidelines for about a minute because they posed for a photograph celebrating a big event in the Department that evening. It is important to make the distinction between a social gathering and a workplace incident. The answer to the Senator's question is that I am not aware of any social gathering that took place in the Department and that was contrary to restrictions through the Covid period.