Mr. Peter Feeney:

In my view, no. Medical records are private and the only reason to publish it is if one could argue effectively and forcefully that is was in the public interest. If Senator Buttimer had Covid in February this year and did not tell anybody about it, I cannot see any reason why any member of the public should know that. If spouses or children of public figures had Covid, I cannot see any reason to publish that.

Early in the pandemic, a newspaper published a well-intentioned article on five people who had died of Covid but it had not thought of asking the families of those people if they wanted the public to know that the person had died. We upheld that complaint. It was not done out of malice. It was done with good intentions and was a good article which brought home the human tragedy of Covid. One family said they did not want people to know their relative had Covid, put in a complaint and I upheld it. I would say the same about politicians. Unless it is shown that the politician having Covid has influenced his or her public statements, stances or policies, I cannot see how that could be justified.

Going back to the death of Brian Lenihan Jnr., I will give a personal opinion. I was disappointed that reports of his illness were published. One could argue that a healthy Minister for Finance is important but there was a degree of insensitivity there which surprised me. My recollection is it was published on St. Stephen's Day, when he was home with his family. His family had to be rushed to be told because it was to be published a couple of days later. It was broadcasting, rather than print. There are times when the privacy of the general public and politicians, in particular, has to be respected.