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TANNAISTE Leo Varadkar has said that some of the public have already moved from Level 5, but warned of a “deteriorating” Covid-19 situation that could worsen if restrictions are eased next month.
Varadkar told the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday that the number of cases rose 9% last week, will rise again this week and that the government is very concerned about the situation.
The Fine Gael leader said several metrics were going in the wrong direction, including the 14-day incidence rate, the GP Covid test referral rate, and the test positivity rate. He said the R number, the virus’s reproduction rate, is now “probably above 1”.
Sources present at the meeting said the Tánaiste noted that the country is in a worse situation than at the end of November, when restrictions were relaxed for three weeks before Christmas.
Before an announcement about the public health restrictions next week, Mr. Varadkar said the government would like to ease them to keep people on board for fear that if it didn’t, people would make their own decisions.
But he said ministers were equally concerned that easing restrictions would cause people to do more than they are allowed to do.
Varadkar agreed with a point made by Limerick TD Kieran O’Donnell, who said that the public had already moved from Level 5.
The Tánaiste said that it was true that a part of the public had moved from Level 5, but said that the dilemma was whether the relaxation of the restrictions would make the situation worse. He said the government would have to make a decision based on Nphet’s advice.
The Fine Gael leader said the government’s top priority was keeping schools open and the full return of secondary schools. He said the second highest priority was people’s mental health and giving them “some relief” and “a little extra freedom.”
Varadkar faced calls from various TDs to facilitate blocking with calls to loosen restrictions on outdoor gatherings, underage sports, construction, and click-and-collect services.
However, some senators, including Martin Conway, Micheál Carrigy and Mary Seery Kearney, urged the government to be more cautious before next week’s announcement.
Former Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan, Representatives John Paul Phelan and David Stanton and Senator Jerry Buttimer were among those in attendance who called for the 5km travel limit to be lifted.
Former Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy asked if restrictions could be loosened at the regional level. Murphy also said there was evidence that people were already breaking restrictions in small ways.
OPW Minister Patrick O’Donovan said something needed to be done to boost morale in the country.
Varadkar said the advice of Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn was that no county in Ireland could adopt looser restrictions at this time.
Responding to inquiries about vaccine bonuses, Varadkar said it made sense to allow people over the age of 70 vaccinated more freedoms, but that currently there are very few people vaccinated. He said the government was monitoring the impact of easing restrictions on vaccinated people in Denmark and Israel.
He said that even with the vaccination of all the elderly and vulnerable there would be 35 hospitalizations for every 1,000 positive cases that would not be sustainable.
On the upcoming Seanad by-elections, Varadkar said Dublin Mayor Hazel Chu’s decision to run as an unofficial Green Party candidate had created difficulties.
He said the Green Party had agreed to endorse Maria Byrne of Fine Gael for the agriculture panel and Gerry Horkan of Fianna Fáil for the industrial and commercial panel since Green Senator Pippa Hackett did not object in the 2019 by-elections and in the understanding that the two largest coalition parties would back a green candidate in future by-elections.
But he said there were indications that Ms. Chu would be endorsed by Sinn Féin for the trade panel and that Sinn Féin would endorse unionist Ian Marshall for the agriculture panel. He urged his colleagues to poll members of the Fianna Fáil and Green Party Oireachtas to support Ms Byrne.
The party also backed a motion asking Fianna Fáil’s Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien to address the parliamentary party in the coming weeks.
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