All eyes on alleged political Covid breaches – at home and abroad

Good morning,

There was plenty of anticipation on Monday as word filtered out that the Sue Gray report would finally be published albeit in a limited form.

And while all eyes were on the Commons for the latest instalment of the Boris lockdown-busting bash saga, it turns out officials here were having a not entirely dissimilar afternoon.

Secretary General Joe Hackett’s report into the 2020 gathering in the Department of Foreign Affairs was given to the Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney on Monday and published last night.

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The review was ordered after it emerged that some 20 officials in the department had gathered to share a glass of sparkling wine after Ireland won a seat on the UN Security Council, despite Covid-19 restrictions.

We carry all the main findings in our off-lead today.

Hackett’s review says that after the result of the vote was announced, the former secretary general Niall Burgess provided three bottles of sparkling wine from “personal items he kept in his office for use as gifts and which he purchased at his own expense”.

The review found there was a “serious breach of social distancing guidance” but that there was “no evidence” that the gathering was pre-planned.

Mr Burgess has been asked to make a donation worth €2,000 to a charity providing assistance to people affected by Covid, while three other senior officials have also been asked to make a similar donation of €1,000. “Each of the officials concerned has agreed to do so,” the report says.

The Opposition is not happy, though.

Sinn Féin has called for an independent investigation. The party’s deputy Dáil leader Pearse Doherty said the report has failed to consider “the lack of action by the Minister for Foreign Affairs to initiate an investigation into what the report calls ‘a serious breach’ of regulations in his Department – despite being made aware of this on the night it happened.”

Back across the water, Boris Johnson is clinging on for dear life.

Johnson told MPs yesterday: I get it, I will fix it and I know what the issue is.

Could the issue be the excessive drinking culture in Downing Street that Sue Gray points to? Or the many Covid-unfriendly soirees?

According to the beleaguered British prime minister the big issue is: “Can we be trusted to deliver?”

As Johnson tried to bluster his way through an extraordinary afternoon of recrimination, he repeatedly rolled out the greatest hits on what he sees as his legacy in politics: Brexit, boosters and broadband.

He brushed off requests to resign by telling MPs that they were pre-empting the outcome of a police investigation. In the meantime, he has promised a restructure of Downing Street and a new code of conduct for staff and advisers.

Things went from bad to worse for Johnson after it emerged that the Metropolitan Police are examining more than 300 photographs from the various events, including a “bring your own booze” gathering in the Downing Street garden.

It does make the one-minute, one-photo gathering in Coveney’s department look rather pale in comparison.

In his analysis piece, Denis Staunton says that Johnson left the chamber "with the handful of supporters who were still there and went to address his entire parliamentary party."

“They met him with the faintest, weariest cheer, their confidence in him seeping away but too timid to strike just yet.”

Here is Denis Staunton's full news report.

Business as usual

There is a definite feeling around Leinster House of politics slowly returning to normal. The Cabinet meets this morning at 9am and while Covid-19 may not be top of the agenda, the knock-on effects are still being felt.

It looks likely that Minister for Education Norma Foley will bring a memo to Cabinet disregarding calls for another hybrid Leaving Cert this year and reverting instead to written exams. There may be more choice, however. Here is the latest piece from Jack Horgan-Jones.

Meanwhile the treatment of whistleblowers will also be big news.

According to laws being brought by the Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath, companies with more than 50 workers will have to establish formal channels for whistleblowers to come forward.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar will also bring a new national digital strategy which will commit to the following: that all populated areas will be covered by 5G no later than 2030; that 90 per cent of public services will be consumed online by the same date in 2030 and that at least 80 per cent of adults will have the most basic of digital literacy skills by the same date. The strategy also aims to give all Irish households and businesses access to a gigabit network by 2028.

The memo is understood to reference plans to invest in cyber-security, a particularly important topic given last year’s cyberattack on the health service.

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Playbook

Dáil Éireann

Proceedings kick off on Tuesday with Leaders’ Questions at 2pm followed by the order of business at 2.35pm.The Taoiseach takes questions just after 3pm and then its straight to Government business before 4pm with statements on legacy issues in Northern Ireland.

At 6.15pm Sinn Féin will bring a motion on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services following last week’s report into the treatment of young patients in Kerry.

The Minister for Education Norma Foley will take questions on her brief at 8.15pm which is timely given the fact it looks like that students will today be given clarity on the summer exams. The Dáil adjourns at just after 10.30pm.

Here is the full schedule.

Seanad

The fun kicks off at 2.30pm with commencement matters followed by the order of business an hour later. The big Bill up in the Seanad today is the Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill which gives new rights to employees, banning the use of tips and gratuities to 'make up' contractual rates of pay. The Seanad adjourns at 7pm and the full schedule of the day's events can be found here.

Committees

Most of the Oireachtas committees are meeting in private on Tuesday but there are a few interesting hearings on the agenda. At 10am the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action will talk about issues including commercial fishing licences. The Minister for Environment Eamon Ryan will appear for this meeting. At 11am the Joint Committee on Education will meet to discuss the Education (Admissions to School) Bill 2020, part of the Labour Party argument that schools should not be allowed to keep 25 per cent of places for the children or grandchildren of past pupils. At 3pm, the Joint Committee on Children will meet to discuss the rights of the child in relation to domestic and international surrogacy.

The full agenda for all the committees can be found here.