David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister had a telephone call with the CMO last Sunday. I am assuming that call was not about the sporting events that took place the day before. That call was about the CMO's serious concerns regarding the spread of Covid-19, his deep concerns about the contraction of the virus and the number of cases throughout the State.

For the first time, today in the Dáil, we have learned that on that phone call the CMO and the Minister did have a discussion regarding added restrictions. What the Minister said is that he and CMO talked about the possibility of moving to level 4. That is the first time I have been made aware of that fact, and I assume that it is the first time that people in this House have made aware of it as well.

I would like to ask the Minister to respond briefly to my questions. When the CMO put it to him that he was so concerned that he might recommend going up one level or more, was there any pushback from the Minister? Did the Minister say to the CMO at that stage that that would be unacceptable or problematic? Did the CMO have any sense that doing that would be a difficulty or a challenge for the Government? I ask that because the impression that was given for 48 hours after that phone call was that NPHET had gone on a solo run and had bounced the Government. From the Minister's statement tonight, it clearly looks like that was not the case.

In fact, the Minister went on to state that in his response to the CMO he asked that NPHET stick to the parameters set out in the framework for each level. The Government's plan and the framework allows for five levels. Did the Minister, therefore, at any time during that call on Sunday morning, before the NPHET meeting, say to the CMO, when there was talk of added restrictions, that that was going to be a big difficulty for the Government? Following that phone call on Sunday morning, did the Minister inform the Taoiseach of that call? Did he inform the Taoiseach that there was a discussion in the call about added restrictions and the possibility that NPHET might recommend going to level 4 or level 5? I will give the Minister a minute to respond to those questions.

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