Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has hinted that the “exceptional” emergency Covid powers seized by the government may not be temporary, as the government votes to extend them until January.
The comments were made yesterday during a debate on the Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2021, with Donnelly saying that future restrictions could not be ruled out, as the Covid-19 virus is unpredictable.
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“The reintroduction of any given measure cannot be fully ruled out at this point,” said Donnelly.
“The Chief Medical Officer, CMO, has advised that the future trajectory of the disease cannot be predicted with certainty…The Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2021 is an important part of any response, should the potential for one arise in the future. While that is unlikely, it cannot be fully ruled out because of the uncertainty of the future trajectory of the virus in light of how novel it is.”
The Fianna Fáil Minister went on to add that he was “looking to extend the legal framework, should that be required, in the subsequent 12 weeks.”
He added that the government wanted to extend the emergency power “for a period of three months, without any regulations providing for restrictions on the indoor hospitality sector being imposed…
“…If we had another situation, such as the one we had on the Friday evening of the week before Christmas, this would allow us to move quickly. That is all it is. The measure only applies to hospitality and indoor hospitality were it to be invoked.”
The Minister concluded: “These are exceptional measures and whether they are temporary or not, this is an exceptional power.”
At this point, Independent TD Michael McNamara interjected: “Is it temporary or not?”
Additionally, Independent TD Mattie McGrath chimed in: “How temporary is “temporary”?”
However, both deputies were rebuked by the Ceann Comhairle for their interruption, and the questions were not addressed by the Minister.