Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
The Taoiseach has maintained that he has confidence in the Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald, but says he is not happy that on at least two occasions in the last week the Department of Justice gave him misinformation.
22 Nov 2017
12:05PM
Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald is fighting for her political life today after her hour long grilling last night over an email relating to the former Garda Commissioner’s legal strategy in the O’Higgins Commission.
It centres around an email, which mentions specifically a criminal complaint being used to question Maurice McCabe’s motivation.
Micheál Martin says the email in “damning” and states that it should have raised alarm bells for the minister.
It is simply not credible that the minister would not remember the email, he says, given the enormity of the McCabe scandal.
He says what is far worse is the did nothing when she got this email.
She became a bystander to a legal strategy that sought to undermine McCabe. Martin says it was kept quiet for four days, with the Taoiseach “inadvertently” misleading the Dáil.
“She may have not thrown him to the wolves but she allowed them free rein,” says Martin.
Leo Varadkar repeats the line that the Minister had “no hand, act or part” in the legal strategy – which in fairness, is not the question being asked.
The Taoiseach says he spoke to McCabe for 20 mins last night and he McCabe disputes that the allegation of sexual abuse was raised at the O’Higgins Commission – which the Taoiseach says has everyone confused.
He stands by the minister and says she did what she should have done. Varadkar says he does have confidence in the Tánaiste.
22 Nov 2017
12:15PM
Martin says he doesn’t accept his reply. He says no one is saying she had a part in the legal strategy.
He also wants to know why the individuals who sent and received this email was omitted from what TDs were given. He wants to know who the correspondence was sent.
22 Nov 2017
12:19PM
Varadkar says “there is no one here that I or the government is trying to protect”.
He says the email was sent to the Assistant Secretary from Dept of Justice and it was sent to a number of people in the department, including to the minister’s private secretary who then sent it on to her.
“At the heart of this is a terrible vista. An appalling set of actions were afoot… simply not good enough to say a minister in charge of a portfolio on the most explosive issue in this Dail in the last three years, merely stands by,” says Martin.
Varadkar has asked the department to trawl through all emails to make sure that all relevant documents have been sent to the Commission of Investigation.
He says he is also revisiting a report into the functionality of the Department of Justice.
Mary Lou McDonald is up now and she says there are now questions over the Tanaiste’s “competence and judgement” given the email sets out the former Garda Commissioner’s strategy “to undermine and attack the credibility”.
She points out what Alan Kelly has observed that the email was sent to Fitzgerald three days before the cross-examination actually took place at the O’Higgins Commission.
She said she did not give the answers that were needed last night and said her role in the second most powerful job in government be tenable.
I have been given incomplete information from the Department, says Varadkar.
He says he is not happy which is why he is asking for an update on the Toland report on the functionality, operation and modernisation of the Justice Department.
The Taoiseach again reiterates that she had not hand, act or part in the legal strategy – which no one is disputing.
Varadkar says trying to distinguish between May 15 and May 18 is “moving the goalposts”. Fitzgerald says she only found out about it after the opening statements had been made.
She is now reading out the record of the Dáil and says the Taoiseach is misleading the Dáil again. He says he is happy to correct the Dáil if he checks back on what he said.
22 Nov 2017
12:30PM
Mick Barry is up now and attacking the Taoiseach over the homelessness crisis.
He is highlighting a case in which an apartment complex is being refurbished so that it will appeal to “young professionals”.
He says tenants of this block have been told to vacate – some on Dec 20th. Another had their notice to vacate sellotaped to their door.
He says the action of this vulture fund are utterly unacceptable.
Varadkar says homelessness is something the government “feels very deeply about”.
22 Nov 2017
12:36PM
Varadkar says he has read about the case in the newspapers but says the minister has committed to changing the rules around substantial refurbishment and what it means.
He thinks it is particularly cruel to evict people before Christmas.
“I absolutely condemn that … it could certainly be left into the new year,” says Varadkar.
Varadkar says the notices should be withdrawn and those that live in that development should be given adequate time to find a new home.
“Not good enough Taoiseach,” says Barry, who points out that this is not a minor refurbishment, it is going to cost €3m. But his point is that it is vulture funds that have got their claws in to the property market.
“Sometime apartments need refurbishment, there are fire safety issues there are cases where they need substantial refurbishment,” says Varadkar.
He says he does not know the specifics of this apartment block but says no one should be evicted before Christmas and should be given “many months” to find a new house.
22 Nov 2017
12:43PM
Michael Healy Rae says something is wrong with our health system, referring to last night’s RTE Investigates programme which found a failure by the HSE and hospital managements to properly implement the 2008 Hospital Consultants’ Contract across acute public hospitals.
In one case a consultant observed for eight weeks was working less than 13 hours per week on average in the public system.
The Taoiseach says it was a very interesting piece of investigative journalism.
“I would like to say I was surprised from the outcome,” says Varadkar, but adds that there are a “minority” that are not living up their contractual obligations.
“Deeply offensive” is how he describes such actions.
When he was Health Minister he asked for an audit on something similar in relation to consultants working in emergency hospitals – this was never done, he says.
The new Slainte care health plan will be a game changer. He says this would never be allowed in the school system, but it is allowed in the health service. That is wrong, he says.
There are “perverse” incentives at play he says.
22 Nov 2017
12:46PM
The Taoiseach says the IMO (the group the represents consultants) has said this happens on rare occasions. “I don’t think they can deny it now,” he adds.
He says getting TDs to log in ensures that politicians are at Leinster House – though he says it doesn’t ensure they are working – it at least says they have come to work.
“I don’t think it would be huge imposition to ask them to clock in and tag in to ensure they are on the premises,” he says.
22 Nov 2017
1:01PM
That’s it for Leaders’ Questions.
Keep up with the main talking point of today here:
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
66 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
@Jeff Nolan: there has been, that’s why instead of the recommended three to four week interval between doses it’s been extended to 12 weeks. Chief medical officers in the U.K. said vaccine shortages was main reason for the longer vaccine schedule.
@EillieEs: my understanding is that they have enough vaccine but they want to show how many people vaccinated statistics so they are giving it to double the amount of people first and second vaccinations much later. There have been no headlines in the uk of 60% reduction in vaccine for uk. All of their headlines say that the reduction is for the EU.
@Jeff Nolan: EU s main allegiance is to Pfizer who are making profits on vaccines. Astra Zenica is not for profit and is in fact prioritising India and other poor countries in conjunction with WHO.
@Tony Lyons: You are wrong. In trials they gave one dose followed by a half dose. Two doses have been found to be more effective and they are supplying this vaccine on the understanding that each person receives two doses. This is why there is a shortage in supply.
@EillieEs: That’s the Pfizer vaccine they are spreading out. I read that AstraZeneca is manufacturing the Oxford Vaccine in the UK for the UK market In Melbourne for the Australian market, India for that market & beyond because they have vast manufacturing capacity & Belgium & Holland for the EU. The EU should just ask for their money back from AstraZeneca if they feel let down & wait for Sanofi to whom they have placed orders for 300 million doses @ $10.50 a pop & lets not forget they haven’t even approved the Astra jab for emergency use yet ;-)
@Jeff Nolan: AZ had promised that they will deliver the original amount that was promised.. I o w there is no shortage but they wanted to deliver to other countries. There not to be trusted and the EU can better deal with Pfizer from now on.
@Joe Thorpe: BBC reporting has been hilarious. When things are going well it’s “Oxford AstraZenica”, all of a sudden it’s “The AstraZenica vaccine – with research from Oxford university”. Shpinnnnn.
Let’s hope the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is soon approved by the US and the EU shortly after. It only requires one jab, and does not require the same storage requirements of the Pfizer vaccine. This vaccine will be the game changer.
@Teresa O’Halloran: yeah but it has lower efficiency so should probably be used on the younger people in society and use the others for the more vulnerable
I’d rather the vaccine production to be carried out properly without undue pressure, this kind of rhetoric from EU leaders may lead to shortcuts being taken, dangerous game.
@Mark Malone: how would you propose pushing the pharmaceutical companies to adhere to their contracts so, particularly if money was paid up front to allow production capacity to be increased? You can’t expect the EU to be jumping up and down with joy instead
@Mark Malone: shame on the EU leaders for standing up for its citizens after AZ happily took the tax payers’ money to upgrade their production and meet the demands as per the contract and failed to do so.
@David Van-Standen: scaling up product from lab or clinic scale to commercial scale isn’t easy and can face a number of unforseen setbacks and issues that often aren’t seen until the first batch is made. Any number of things, be it the chemistry when moving to plant scale produces lower expected yields, supplier issues due to Brexit, validation issues, material impurity causing issues with quality, process deviations, quality control issues, plant workers/automation software over/under charging a vessel/reactor with too much of a solvent or chemical in error damaging a batch, engineering issues, the list goes on.
No doubt the hundreds of talented people working tirelessly to get this product made safely, compliantly and within the time frame the top brass promised is commendable.
@Derek: except that’s not what the EU seems to think. That would be a satisfactory response from the company. The EU says the response from the company was not satisfactory. It doesn’t take much reading between the lines to work this out: the EU thinks it’s not getting what it paid for and therefore some other country or countries are.
@Derek: Quality and safety would always be number 1 but if that were the case why were AZ not communicating with the e.u on the issue from the outset and all the way through the process
I can understand from a validation point of view in that unforeseen issues can occur with mass production but again the e.u are right as the answers are unacceptable especially after pumping in billions to ramp it up and as a customer they have the right to know why AZ have not adhered to their contract
@Mark Malone: Reading between the lines it seems the EU are not buying the “production issues” excuse and are of the opinion that the vaccines are actually being produced in quantity but are promised to higher bidders. Think back to the early days of the pandemic and all the issues around PPE supplies. Cargo plane pilots with stories about EU bound PPE cargos about to be loaded on their planes but then vans turning up full of US dollars and the cargo being switched to US bound flights. America was basically paying cargo handlers to steal the supplies.
@James Grant: The EU may have pumped billions into the vaccine race but they didn’t pump billions into AstraZeneca they simply paid up front for the lowest priced candidate. Production for the EU deliveries is being done inside the EU so i dare say if the EU goes at them AZ will in turn go after their producer in Belgium.
Apparently they are using the chemicals needed to produce orders for others who are paying more. It isn’t a simple production issue, they are selling the product to the highest bidder
@ChuckE: What really happened is the UK made an order and contract first then Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands done the same a few weeks later calling it the vaccine alliance, the EU got upset and said it was their job then made them cancel the contract and the EU renegotiated the contract which took over 2 months putting them further back in a que but they want it now, the other problem is the EU still have not approved the vaccine.
So the EU wants to bully a company whose product it still hasn’t approved for use. The EU bureaucracy has publicly raised doubts about this vaccine when the UK authorised it’s use and then delayed approval while other countries began to use it. Like any company supply to its customers with existing supply chains in place will get priority. It’s no use the EU trying to make Astra Zeneca the bad guys – it’s the EU that has shown incredible incompetence.
@Sara Davis: only U.K. and India are using it. It looks like Europe’s manufactured doses which have been paid for went to the U.K., hence the suggestion today that vaccines manufactured in Europe stay in Europe
This NOW is what sovereignity is all about. Germany has bought direct so did UK and neither flouted or broke any eu law which allow member states to do that in c are of emergency but apparently the commission objected to govt here getting supplies from elsewhere , UK , and govt obeys and what is TD doing they are not holding govt to account to the DAIL and their constituents,
There is absolutely no way that rich connected folk are paying these very reputable (cough) companies over the odds to jump the queue. No way that’s happening at all.
To a large degree ‘Big Pharma’ appears to have the EU over the proverbial barrel on this one and both sides know it. I see this as simply the EU grandstanding for public consumption full well knowing there’s very little they can do to improve the situation. It looks good in the media though…
Another cost of membership or more cost of the loan to ireland and the treaty that commission can hold over govt head NOT APPROVED BY DAIL until loan paid back that control sulloy of vacine to the Irish people . Hw do we know , cos we dont , what type of deal made between commission and suppliers , We dont even know and will never know f the are paid and enif money in the eu to do it ? Nor do we know how much eu is charging us for it ? And dail to whom govt account . ZERO
@Eugene Norman: Grow up and learn. By god u have not a clue what u are talking about. The European Stability Mechanism Treaty make the austerity terms of the loan to ireland the Irish people an international agreement made by M Noonan and the head of the Euro Area States by which M Noonan Agreed that the EU Commission will monitor performance of the terms until the loan is paid back . Not one cent of principal is paid back . Beliieve u me man believe u me U are paying and paying big for membership of the EU. It is becoming a very very expensive e club. As i said even under eu law a member state can buy direct a vacine if there is an emergency. The UK did it . Germany is doing it . The commission said no to the govt doing it . The govt is towing the line . Do u really think our minister are going to do that unless they were afraid of a more powerful lever bing pulled and it is that loan . That treaty not ratified by dail .
@Mary Ward: EU agreed substantial discounts on vaccine prices which any single country would not be able negotiate on their own. So that could be the cause for pharma companies delay shipping to EU and they want to verify
Why wasn’t this emergency approved by Ireland at the beginning of January and we could have got some stock in? We can’t stand up for ourselves and do what the commission tells us. The EMA was taking so long to approve the vaccine that Astra Zeneca probably got fed up waiting and sold it to other countries
This vaccine appears to be the game changer in terms of ramping up the programme. Will be interesting to see how this affects the rollout of the programme but I fear it could lead to significant delays well past the “September” target. A serious blow
Good luck with that. Most of the vaccine is made in the UK with India likely to play a huge role as I understand it.
The EU had no issue burying developing countries when it along with 4 other countries bought up half the vaccine supply for 2021 (for approx 13% of the world population) and ordered less than was needed (even now about half as many doses per person as UK and Canada) so I have zero sympathy.
The pfizer vaccine has about 50-55% efficacy after dose 1 and can increase to about 94% after 2nd dose. Some studies in israel (ref BMJ) put pfizer vac as little as 33% efficacy after dose 1. The moderna vaccine has approx 70% efficacy after 1 dose increasing to +94% after second dose. Astra zenica is hard to find evidence on efficacy but allegedly provides 70% after 2 doses. But ongoing studies suggest it could be as high as 90% All these vaccines are 2 shot vaccines whereas the Johnson & Johnson vaccine provides 70% with just one dose. So all in all i believe its more of an economic strategy. I could be wrong!! There are many other vaccines on the market these days that have a low efficacy. The shingles vaccine being one. Only a 55 – 65% efficacy.
The vaccine does not need to be approved for administration to ensure delivery. AZ are contractually obliged to deliver the agreed amount of doses in the set time frame. Failure to do so should see the EU throw the legal book at them. It has been paid for up front approved for use or not.
What really happened is the UK made an order and contract first then Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands done the same a few weeks later calling it the vaccine alliance, the EU got upset and said it was their job then made them cancel the contract and the EU renegotiated the contract which took over 2 months putting them further back in a que but they want it now, the other problem is the EU still have not approved the vaccine.
Explainer: What is a tariff and why has Trump just slapped a 20% one on EU goods?
Updated
7 hrs ago
35.3k
121
Live Blog
Trump hits EU goods with 20% tariff and rails against foreigners 'pillaging' US
Updated
6 hrs ago
107k
199
Live Blog
Trump hits EU goods with 20% tariff and rails against foreigners 'pillaging' US
Updated
6 hrs ago
107k
199
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 161 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 110 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 143 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 113 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 39 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 35 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 134 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 61 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 74 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 46 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 92 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 99 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 72 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 53 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 88 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 69 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say