Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This pertains to the second part of the Deputy's question. I would like to divide this into process and substance. The substance is what matters. What matters is that we have moved the country to level 3. The debate over whether we should be at level 3 or level 5 is the debate that matters.

With regard to the Chief Medical Officer, I have given multiple interviews, had a press conference and appeared on "Prime Time", and in every one of those appearances I unequivocally and wholeheartedly endorsed the man and his role. That is all I can say. I am happy to do so again right now. The Chief Medical Officer and I have met every day to discuss precisely these questions: testing and tracing, masks, antigen testing and suppression of the virus.

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