Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health David Cullinane TD has said that the government are at sixes and sevens on the current situation pertaining to Covid-19.

He said the mixed messaging needed to stop, and that the Cabinet should be meeting today to address the confusion.

Teachta Cullinane said:

“The failure to prepare by this government is staggering. We have seen this in the backlog that persists in PCR testing, and in the manner in which measures in relation to schools were announced last night.

“Parents want schools to be kept open and they want their children to be kept safe.

“Children were sent back to school with no mitigation measures, no filtration devices in classrooms, and contract tracing was ended.

“The consequences of all of that is that those under-12s now have one of the highest incidences of Covid-19.   

“Parents, teachers, school managers and the opposition have been shouting about this for months, and not only did the government ignore what was happening; they kept repeating the mantra that ‘schools are safe’.

“Overnight, schools have gone from being so safe that contract tracing is not needed, to needing children to wear masks to keep safe.  

“Yesterday, we were told that there would be no further restrictions announced this week. But last night hundreds of businesses found out there are serious restrictions being recommended that could force them to close their doors.

“The government approach is all over the place. There is total confusion. Mixed messaging is a real problem in this situation.   

“It is inconceivable that the Cabinet is not meeting to discuss this situation today, particularly in light of developments relating to a new variant of the virus.”