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Health Minister Stephen Donnelly’s desire to criminally prosecute those with more than six visitors to their homes was canceled after a last-minute intervention by Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
The Irish Examiner learned that the proposal to include it as a penal provision was included in Donnelly’s memorandum to cabinet, but when it was debated by ministers, he himself said that it was correct to drop the proposal.
“He agreed to rule out the same proposal that he himself brought,” said a source.
It is understood that the question of how to approach the house parties was the subject of a long discussion between the ministers and Mr. Martin sought the opinion of the ministers of the three parties.
Attorney General Paul Gallagher is said to have participated in the removal of the criminal element.
While it was said that there was no disagreement on increasing the Gardaí’s powers to prosecute pubs that flaunt the laws, it is clear that various opinions were expressed on the matter of house parties.
According to sources, a feeling was expressed that Donnelly’s memorandum was overstated and ministers were eager to pursue the enforcement route on enforcement.
“Sometimes we have to moderate the desire of the Department of Health,” said a source. It is understood that the ministers did not want Gardaí to peek into the houses to see if there were seven people there.
“This plan is to ensure that you don’t have 30 people in your backyard, not if you accidentally have a seventh person for a short period of time,” said a source at the meeting.
There was some debate about the constitutional rights of individuals and their homes and some ministers felt that if the provision were deleted, any mention of homes or home gatherings in the laws would be “symbolic”.
“Even though Donnelly originally wanted the enforcement option, when he came to Cabinet, he agreed that we should go down the compliance route,” said a source.
It is also understood that Mr. Martin sought a plan to reopen pubs in the short term to be reviewed and developed and that was agreed.
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