Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was about to make that point. It has always been the case - at least for as long as I have been in the House - that the Government decides which Ministers come in. It is often that a different Minister comes in but it is always the case a Minister is there.

On the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HPSC, guidance, for the benefit of Deputy Boyd Barrett, it is actually both, namely, 15 minutes in close proximity or two hours in the same space.

We are, however, all feeling our way through an unprecedented scenario. The truth is that, as the virus diminishes in the community - there were only 30 or so new cases yesterday - we are able to take more calculated risks. What might have been the right thing to do two or three weeks ago, may be different now and may be different again in the next couple of weeks. We should accept that it is a risk, however. There is a genuine risk that if there is any Minister or politician here for more than two hours and somebody else in the Chamber or they test positive, then all of the people in the Chamber will be required to self-isolate for 14 days. That is the truth. The objective is to make sure that the Government is held to account.

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