Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I can cut to the heart of the Deputy's question and allegations. I can assure the Deputy that I did not talk to any journalists about moving to level 4. The events were quite clear. The events were: I contacted the Chief Medical Officer early on Sunday and said I would like to talk before NPHET; he and I spoke; we had a very productive conversation; he talked about the escalating situation; the prospect of moving to level 4 was raised; and we spoke after NPHET. NPHET met, I believe, at noon.

I do not know when they finished but the Chief Medical Officer, the deputy CMO, the Secretary General and I had a call around 7 p.m. That was the first time I heard about level 5. I noted it was then reported on RTÉ either on the nine o'clock news or perhaps before that.

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