Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for being here.

I wanted to raise two separate issues. The first relates to the events on Sunday. Second, I want to ask about the ongoing Covid issues.

First, in the Minister's statement here outlining his discussions with the Chief Medical Officer on Sunday morning, he stated: "We discussed the current situation and the possibility of moving to level 4." Looking at some of the stories that were released about the matter, the Irish Examinerpublished an article at 5.10 p.m. stating that the country was on the verge of moving to level 4. That was the only mention of level 4 at any stage during that, and that was at 5.10 p.m. on Sunday. In light of what the Minister stated here, that is interesting. Also, The Irish Times, which is not published on Sunday, stated that it was understood that NPHET met at noon and the meeting was ongoing. It reported that one Government source said the source thought they were in a very difficult situation. There seems to be something between the initial phone call that the Minister had from the Chief Medical Officer and before the end of the NPHET meeting on Sunday that seems to have been reported widely. The Irish Examinertalks about level 4 and the Minister has talked about level 4 in his own statement. It seems the leaks came from somewhere within the Government. The Minister stated in response to a question earlier on that it was not him or any of his staff, but the Minister was not asked if he spoke to any journalists between the phone call from the Chief Medical Officer and 5 p.m., when the ongoing reports then started to appear, and particularly where they mention level 4 and that seems to be the only time that it has been mentioned.

See this speech in context