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

I met Deputy Shortall afterwards with Deputy Kelly. The Deputy was on the call and then left which is fair enough as it was a long meeting. People asked for a briefing the previous week. I believe the briefing was useful in dealing with the issues the Deputy has just raised, such as modelling and the Chief Medical Officer's and deputy Chief Medical Officer's perspectives on the issues. Mr. Paul Reid was there as CEO of the HSE. That briefing happened only last Monday week. I then spoke to party leaders later in the week, including Deputy Shortall's co-leader, Deputy Catherine Murphy. I spoke to Deputy McDonald about the situation in Northern Ireland and the move in Northern Ireland to the equivalent of our level 3. I spoke to the First Minister, the deputy First Minister and the leader of the SDLP - I did not get to speak to other leaders in the North - to see if we can get as close to a harmonisation of positions as we could, notwithstanding the different political sensitivities and realities and the two different jurisdictions. We must be a bit real about this. The word "glibly" is thrown around the House about an all-island response but we must recognise realities. I am not on the Northern Executive. The Northern Executive had its own challenges last week trying to get agreement. It got agreement but it was difficult, so the attempt to always apportion blame to the Government for lack of an all-island response is just not credible or tenable. That needs to be said. It is easy to talk but it is-----

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