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Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that he hopes Ireland will have to continue living with the Covid-19 virus until at least the end of 2021, but that he hopes to see a vaccine by the middle of next year.
Martin said he was hopeful that front-line healthcare workers and society’s most vulnerable citizens could get vaccinated in the first half of 2021, but that he believed the pandemic would last at least another year.
He noted that while Dr. Mike Ryan, director of the World Health Organization (WHO) health emergencies program, was optimistic that a vaccine could be found by April, it would take a long time to roll out to the entire population. On a more optimistic note, Mr. Martin said he was encouraged by Irish therapy research that was “getting better all the time”.
“What I would tell people is keep this up because we will get through it. Science and research will overcome this virus as in the past, but we have to control ourselves, protect ourselves, protect the elderly and the most vulnerable. “
Martin defended the government’s decision to introduce Level 3 restrictions in the capital on RTÉ’s Today show with Brendan O’Connor, saying that numbers had stabilized in Laois, Kildare and Offaly when similar restrictions were introduced. However, he acknowledged that the hospitality, tourism and aviation sectors were “suffering a terrible blow.”
Tax returns
Martin said it was clear from the tax returns that the virus was having a stronger impact on low-income workers and that more needed to be done to help the jobless. The Pandemic Unemployment Pay (PUP) will be kept “constantly under review” while the Government will also examine how to support certain sectors, notably hospitality and the arts.
With a deficit of 24,000 million euros expected by the end of the year, the government must look for “alternative employment flows” to support the sectors most affected by the restrictions, he said.
“We need to be more imaginative in the area of social protection in terms of what many call the gig economy,” he said, adding that many people working in the cultural sector were afraid to leave the PUP for some events, as they would lose sustainable income. Steps must be taken to ensure that these people can have “a minimum income,” he said.
“We should consider employing artists in schools: children will benefit, arts and culture will benefit, and we keep artists working and maintaining an income stream.”
The Taoiseach emphasized that the latest restrictions introduced in the capital “are not a blockade, it is not close to the blockade we had before. There is no 5 km, no 20 km [limit on travel], people can work in retail, manufacturing, construction and education ”.
In response to an article in The Irish Times that some members of the National Public Health Emergencies Team (NPHET) wanted Dublin to move to Level 4 restrictions, Mr. Martin said that this information “was not communicated to us, nor verbally or in the NPHET letter sent to the government ”. However, he did not deny claims that NPHET had discussed moving the rest of the country to Tier 3 restrictions. He said the goal was to “get Dublin back to Tier 2” and focus on guidance issued on Friday.
Mr. Martin added that the new oversight committee had been established to ensure “better coordination between all government departments” and for “better alignment between recommendations and implementations.”
Damp pubs
When asked why the government had decided to allow so-called “wet bars” outside the capital to reopen, the Taoiseach said that “the innkeepers needed a chance” but that government and health officials were watching virus numbers across the country. He said the number of pubs offering food options had started to drive the decision to keep wet pubs closed “in disrepute” when rural pubs in places with low incidence of the virus had been closed for so long.
Commenting on the young woman who threw Leo Varadkar a milkshake on Friday, the Taoiseach said he believed the Tánaiste had handled the incident well and that his comments in response to what happened were “witty and funny.”
However, he acknowledged that he was concerned about an increase in violence against politicians that could affect their safety when they are in public. “The best thing about Irish politics is our accessibility … we can walk the streets and go to the parks and I would hate to think that an event like this could inhibit this.
“That I think is the strength of Irish politics. Whether you agree or disagree with politicians, all we have is the connection with the people who walk the streets, get involved, talk, no matter what position they occupy. That is a great strength and I would hate to see it undermined. “
On Varadkar’s role in the coalition, Martin said he did not feel the Tánaiste anticipated public announcements. “Our relationship is very good and we get along on a personal level. And with Eamon Ryan, all three. “
While the “government formation period was too long,” Mr. Martin said the coalition was made up of an “equal partnership” and that Fianna Fáil brought political experience and a new perspective to the table.
He disagreed with the claim that his own party was facing an “existential crisis” and said that there was a younger generation capable of TD from Fianna Fáil entering the ranks.
‘Undermining’
The Taoiseach criticized Sinn Féin for “undermining” measures taken around testing and tracing, saying “enormous efforts” had been made to improve the system in a global context where there was enormous pressure to purchase test kits.
“I don’t think we can be political about Covid-19, I think it transcends politics,” he said. “The bottom line is that if the virus takes hold, there will be much more than the closure of the hospitality industry and we don’t want to go back there.”
“When you’re in the middle of a global pandemic, to a certain extent, we have to put politics aside and get on with the job. My experience of meeting people on the ground is that they want politicians to get on with their work. They don’t like arguments and they don’t like partisan engagement. We all do it, but the public doesn’t want that.
“They want decisions to be made in their best interest to keep their children in school, to stay safe, to keep their elders protected.”
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