Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not accept the Deputy's analysis of the first week of the Government. He can talk about internal party issues pertaining to certain individuals but my focus has been unwavering since I was elected Taoiseach. That focus has been on policy and substance from the beginning. We have an extensive legislative programme for this month, as the Business Committee is well aware. I would say that the programme is unprecedented in terms of the amount of legislation we will try to get through the House in order to deal with the impact of Covid-19 on the economy. We will deal with the Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill, the Financial Provisions (Covid-19) Bill, the Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill, the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill to set up the Department of Higher of Education and Research and various other items of legislation. The Cabinet subcommittees have already been established by the Government.

I spent a week speaking to the President of the EU Commission, Ms Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the EU Council, Mr. Charles Michel, Mr. Michel Barnier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson - in the context of Brexit - and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, about matters such as the European recovery fund, the multi-annual financial framework and how Europe, as an entity, will deal with Brexit and the Irish position on it. I have been very focused. Other stuff goes on, as it always does in politics, and we will deal with that too. From the perspective of the Government, we must focus on the people.

The Deputy asked about reopening schools and travel advice. The Government has focused on those issues in the past week. We had a meeting of the Covid-19 sub-committee on Friday to deal with the matter of international travel.

We had an extensive consultation with Government colleagues and announced the decision yesterday that the existing advice against unnecessary travel abroad will continue in the interests of public safety and suppressing the virus. Above all, this is to help us get schools open in September. It is a passion of mine that we get the schools open in September because children's development rests on it. We limit the life chances of children if we deprive them any longer of schooling and education. The Cabinet sub-committee on Covid will meet again to discuss that issue now that we have dealt with international travel. The committee will now focus in on education and engaging with the education authorities on the return to school.

I met the Minister for Health and the acting Secretary General of the Department of Health last evening in order to focus in on the non-Covid strand of disease, illnesses and the need for diagnostics, to get resumption of services now that critical care beds have been freed up as a result of the suppression of the virus. The number of patients in such beds has been significantly reduced. I have not wasted an hour since I was elected Taoiseach in the context of concentrating on the fundamentals that face the Irish people. No politician is above the law and no politician should be above the law. In respect of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Cowen, the Deputy will note that punishment was meted out in respect of his transgression four years ago.

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