Pandemic-weary country further buffeted as ‘weather bomb’ Storm Barra arrives

Good morning,

And what a morning it is.

Just when we thought the days of surprise announcements and school closures were behind us, along comes Storm Barra. We have become well used to being told to work from home, and now much of the country is being told to shelter in place.

Emergency meetings of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) have this week given way to emergency meetings of NDFEM, which is the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Crisis Management.

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The “weather-bomb” is moving across the country and looks set to last into Thursday. The Government will decide this evening, about 6pm, whether schools and colleges in red and orange alert areas should remain closed again tomorrow.

Here is our lead story on the weather, and you can follow our live blog, which is being run by Shauna Bowers this morning.

NDFEM is an entirely different beast to Nphet, though. For example, at its meeting yesterday, the other attendees included Met Éireann, the Office of Public Works, local authority weather teams and Government departments and agencies.

During a significant and serious weather event, the response is being managed by the Government, civil service and expert agencies.

It is hard not to contrast this with the work of the Nphet, which has come under scrutiny again in the last week after the Government decided to route Nphet interviews through its press office.

We can expect to see the Opposition grill the Government on this today.

Yesterday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin rejected claims the Government prevented members of Nphet from speaking on the airwaves at the weekend, saying “that did not come from my office” and that he was trying to establish how it happened.

Mr Martin said the aim of the plan was to co-ordinate the message going out to the public to ensure it is coherent. He said there has recently been a “plethora” of voices, which has “not been helpful”.

For more than a year now, it has been clear there is tension between Government and Nphet. Ministers have felt bounced into decisions while public health experts have watched on as a number of communications blunders were made by those operating the levers of power.

The decision to direct communications through Government information services is an attempt, on the surface, to get everyone on the same page, but it is also an implicit reminder of who exactly makes the big decisions in this axis of power.

Here is a piece from Harry McGee on the tug of war.

Covid restrictions: Here we go again

The weather may be changeable, but one thing remains a constant: Covid-19 restrictions.

Today is the first day of five weeks of additional restrictions across the hospitality and live events sector.

Until January 9th, there will be a maximum 50 per cent capacity at indoor entertainment, cultural, community and sporting events, and these events must be fully seated. Nightclubs will close today and Covid-19 certs will now also be required in gyms, leisure centres, hotel bars and restaurants.

A big-ticket item this week will be plans for recalibrated pandemic supports for businesses affected by these new restrictions.

The Covid Restrictions Support Scheme will be rejigged as the Government examines changing the entry criteria while examining the weekly cap.

There will have to be special schemes, too. Officials are looking at bespoke schemes for professions that have suffered “knock-on” damage such as catering, coach operators and perhaps taxi drivers too.

The plan was originally to announce the enhanced supports after Cabinet today, but sources said this may be pushed into tomorrow. Here is our piece on the subject.

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Playbook

Dáil

Leaders’ Questions kicks off at 2pm with questions from Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, People Before Profit-Solidarity and the Regional Group.

Government Business is up before 5pm with the Health Insurance Amendment Bill 2021, which will provide for a reduction in the stamp duty on health insurance contracts.

At 7pm, it’s time for Private Members’ business with a Sinn Féin motion in relation to the Dublin Fire Brigade. At 9pm, Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys will take parliamentary questions, and then at 10.30pm, Topical Issues will be taken.

Here is the full schedule for the day ahead.

Seanad

Commencement matters are up at 10.30am followed by the order of business an hour later.

The Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021 is up at 1pm, and this will put in place a coherent planning system for the entire maritime area.

At 3.30pm there will be statements on Covid 19. An interesting note in the Seanad diary is a panel debate due to happen at 8pm. The topic is “that Seanad Eireann calls for action in the area of maternity/paternity leave for County and City Councillors”. It is being brought by Senators Fiona O’Loughlin, Diarmuid Wilson, Garret Ahearn, Martin Conway and Rebecca Moynihan.

The Seanad adjourns at 10pm.

The full agenda is here.

Committees

The Joint Committee on Health meets at 11am to discuss the closure of the Owenacurra Centre in Midleton, Cork, with the Health Service Executive.

At the same time the Joint Committee on Education will hold a roundtable discussion on Leaving Certificate reform with officials from the Department of Education, National Educational Psychological Service and others.

At 3pm the Joint Committee on Climate Action will discuss carbon budgets with Marie Donnelly, the chairwoman of the Climate Change Advisory Council.

The best of the rest can be found here.