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Justice Minister Helen McEntee has confirmed that there will be no additional powers for Gardaí to enforce the Level 3 restrictions that will be introduced across the country starting at midnight for three weeks.
Ms McEntee said that gardaí still had the power to prosecute organizers of indoor or outdoor meetings over the limits. These indicate no more than six people from another household or no more than 25 people at a wedding.
His comment comes after Tánaiste Leo Varadkar appeared last night to suggest that Gardaí would have powers of execution.
Varadkar said he told RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live on Monday night that moving all 26 counties to Level 3 would be supported by more enforcement than is in place for Dublin and Donegal, which were already at Level 3.
“A lot of this will be in the law, including staying in your county, except for work or education or to care for someone,” he said.
When asked if Gardaí would control that provision, Mr. Varadkar replied that “the guards will come out,” adding that on Monday the government had awarded Ms. McEntee additional money to cover Garda’s overtime.
“We will update the laws, potentially to bring in a different system of fines and so on,” he added. But he did not offer any further details on the details of the app increase.
His statements Monday night resulted in the Association of Garda Representatives (GRA), representing rank and archived gardaí, and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (Agsi), representing sergeants and inspectors, asked for clarity on Tuesday about what new crimes are being created and what new powers Gardaí would have to monitor the pandemic.
However, McEntee confirmed Tuesday that no new powers were being prepared for the latest phase of public health measures.
Last week, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said he was not convinced that granting additional powers to the Garda in the context of monitoring a public health pandemic would be good for the Republic. He told the Police Authority that the force wants to emerge from the pandemic with its strong relationship with the public intact.
The GRA said its members had always watched by consent. But she believed the Garda should provide information on the government’s public health decision-making process during the pandemic. She believes that any information about changes in law enforcement or the police should be shared with Garda authorities before they happen and before it is reported to the public.
GRA President Jim Mulligan said members did not know what enforcement changes would be and described them as “speculative.” He made his comments before McEntee confirmed that no new powers are being introduced.
Mr. Mulligan welcomed the additional funding for Garda overtime, as crimes such as burglary and robbery, which had plummeted during the previous blackout period, are now “back on the line.”
Criminal offenses
Ms. McEntee cautioned that if the country goes to Level 4 or 5, then she wants it to be a crime to travel outside of one’s county.
Currently, Gardaí can only urge the public to comply with the guidelines and does not have the power to enforce the restrictions, the minister told RTÉ News at One. There will be more Gardaí at checkpoints across the country in an attempt to engage, educate, encourage and enforce restrictions, he added.
Ms McEntee said that gardaí does not need additional powers to enforce regulations in relation to indoor events, as it is already a crime to organize such an event, she said. With regard to marches and public demonstrations, the force does everything possible, but there is the right to public assembly. The minister said that the government is analyzing what measures worked in other jurisdictions and the possibility of fines in situ.
However, that raised the question of what measures would have to be put in place if people refused to pay the fines. “We continue to analyze this,” he said.
Defending the decision
The Minister also said that the Government had full confidence in the National Public Health Emergency Team despite ignoring their advice to tighten restrictions to Level 5.
Earlier, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly also defended the government’s decision to reject a call for restrictions to move to level 5, saying the state has adequate capacity for intensive care beds.
The government announced last night a tightening of restrictions and a new enforcement campaign. But he decided not to follow the advice of public health experts despite warnings that infections would increase if the country was not placed in an immediate lockdown.
In a significant break with public health councils and after a series of tense meetings between ministers and officials, the cabinet moved the entire country to Level 3 restrictions from midnight Tuesday for the next three weeks, instead of Level 5 requested by the medical director. Dr. Tony Holohan.
In an extraordinary attack last night, Mr. Varadkar criticized Dr. Holohan and the team for giving the surprise of the Level 5 recommendation on the Government without prior notice or consultation on Sunday and also for not thinking about his recommendation.
He said the team’s rationale that hospitals would be overwhelmed “was not shared by the CEO. [chief executive] of the HSE [Paul Reid] and the HSE was not consulted in this regard ”.
Mr. Varadkar also referred to the introduction of improved application options, but did not describe them in detail.
Under Tier 3 restrictions, individuals will be required to remain in their county and may have up to six visitors from a single household.
Indoor gatherings will be prohibited and pubs, restaurants, cafes and bars serving food may remain open for takeaway, delivery and outdoor dining / services for up to 15 people. Dublin’s wet pubs are closed. Nightclubs, discos and casinos remain closed on Level 3.
Publicans have warned that this is an effective closure order for most pubs and that tomorrow, when the restrictions go into effect, 50,000 bar employees will lose their jobs.
Intensive care beds
Before a cabinet meeting this morning, where the consequences of the government’s decision were discussed, Donnelly said the health service could make additional intensive care unit (ICU) beds available quickly if needed.
“Let’s remember that at the height of this, when there were many more people in the hospital and many times more ICU admissions, we were nowhere near needing the kind of ICU capacity that the HSE had established,” said Mr. Donnelly.
Donnelly said he had spoken to Reid about the issue, who told him that he believes there is enough capacity in intensive care beds.
When asked if he would take responsibility if the decision to withdraw from public health councils turned out to be wrong, Donnelly replied, “It’s not about who is right and who is wrong. It’s about trying to make the best decision that we can, given the evidence we have. “
The minister said that the situation had changed since March and that there are other factors to consider in addition to the suppression of the virus.
“If we were to consider nothing more than virus suppression, if we didn’t have to consider the entire country, then clearly an argument could be made that says, well, everyone just needs to go home, close deals, don’t leave your home. House.
“And obviously we know that the virus would be suppressed. But we have to make what we think is the best decision on behalf of the whole country, that’s what we have done.
He said Level 3 measures have been shown to work “when we all work hard to put them into practice.”
Also speaking before the cabinet meeting was Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, who said the government had made the right decision not to move to Level 5. His colleague, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien, said the cabinet achieved the correct balance “between economics and public health.”
He asked the Opposition not to “politicize” the matter.
Meanwhile, Dr. Gabriel Scally, a public health expert, has said the “public dispute” between Mr. Varadkar and the team is “unedifying.”
Emergency medicine consultant Dr. Chris Luke said doctors shouldn’t run any country. While they have a wealth of medical advice to offer, “you need a 360-degree range of experience to get to the government.”
He added that due to Covid-19 restrictions there had been a “reduction in the footprint of each emergency department, which means there is less space to see people within emergency departments and outpatient clinics and you also have the threat of the virus looms over everyone ”.
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