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

I agree with the Deputy’s comments on the centrality and importance of the public health advice during the global pandemic. From the outset of this pandemic, when I was on the Opposition benches in the immediate aftermath of the general election, at the first meeting with public health officials I stated - Deputy Shortall would have been present at that meeting and would have said exactly the same thing - that all of us in this House must accept the centrality of public health advice as a guide to dealing and coping with the pandemic. That remains my position. It is extremely important that public health advice is independent and transparent and is seen to be so. I will give the following commitment: as long as I am Taoiseach, there will never be an attempt, in any shape or form, to undermine the independence or transparency of public health advice.

The Deputy may have overstated the degree to which there has been a change in communications. All press officers in all Departments have been asked to make sure that NPHET spokespeople are facilitated in going forward to the public media to do interviews, make media appearances and communicate public health advices in the context of Government policy and to explain to people the rationale for the advice that is given. The Government also decided that we will co-ordinate this so that we do not have six spokespeople out on the one day as opposed to two or three and that there is a synchronising and a proper co-ordination of those appearances. That is not something anybody can quibble with. That is the position. I have checked back on what happened over the weekend and nobody was stopped from going on any show from what I have garnered. I said what I said at a press outing on Sunday morning in good faith. This matters to me too and I believe in the independence of NPHET.

I want to make the following point while reflecting on what has happened in recent months.

I have come to conclusion that, more often than not, referring to mixed messaging is a good way of saying "I actually don't like the message". That seems to me to be the position. In the House from time to time, people have said that we have not done antigen testing but everyone knows that public health advisers have not been, from the earliest days, the strongest advocates of antigen testing. There is a robust debate about antigen testing and there is also a robust debate about ventilation. I believe we should do everything we possibly can on ventilation, and we will, but people move on very quickly from the public health advice and say that the Government is not doing this or that when, on many occasions, it can be because that is the advice. All of us need to be careful not to fall prey to the inevitable human failing of always seeking to blame the messenger when we do not quite like the message.

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