Stephen Collins: Government must assert its authority over Nphet

The Government has wisely defused the judicial appointment controversy by declining to take further action over Séamus Woulfe. Given the far-reaching decisions it will have to make in the coming weeks on Covid restrictions and the fallout from Brexit, the public would not have forgiven it for wasting time and energy dealing with the fallout from a squabble amongst the country’s senior judges.

Decisions on if and how the country will exit from the Level 5 lockdown will be made next week. That process will require a combination of wisdom and courage from a Government which was bullied by the National Public Healthy Emergency Team (Nphet) into moving harder and faster than it had planned a month ago to no great obvious effect.

With the Christmas season looming, the Taoiseach and his Ministers have an unenviable task in attempting to balance public health concerns with the need to give people something to look forward to after a year which has taken a dreadful toll on the country.

The first thing the Government has to do is assert its authority and make it clear that the decisions for Christmas are its responsibility.

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It has become obvious over the past week or more that Nphet is engaged in a public relations campaign to retain control of the agenda, and keep the strictest possible lockdown arrangements in place for December.

The regular press conferences held by Nphet paint a bleak picture designed to support its arguments even though the number of people in hospital and intensive care has remained remarkably stable in recent weeks.

The number of cases is rising, but why that should happen after the move to Level 5 has not been addressed.

There is obviously no easy answer about what should happen next, but the danger of attempting to keep the current restrictions in place is that it may simply prompt mass disobedience in the run-up to Christmas.

A cautious easing from the beginning of December, with an emphasis on the individual responsibility of citizens to behave ,looks like the best solution.

Enjoyable and safe

The Taoiseach is clearly aware of this. He told his TDs during the week that he wanted Christmas to be “meaningful, enjoyable and safe”, and suggested it would “be about trusting the public with their personal behaviour” .

He also made the point that this country is doing well in controlling Covid compared to most European countries.

There is a strong case for keeping “wet” pubs closed in December, but no compelling case for keeping retail outlets shuttered.

The evidence from the supermarkets which have remained open all year is that they have not served as channels for spreading the virus. The bravery of the staff who kept serving the public in the early days of the pandemic when Nphet was forecasting a possible 20,000 deaths in the following months has not been appreciated enough.

Given the supermarket experience there is no excuse for keeping other retail outlets closed. Many are already on the verge of going out of business, but Christmas might provide a lifeline.

Another relatively safe move would be to allow religious worship to resume in December. Ireland is the only country in the EU which has forced churches, mosques and synagogues to suspend weekly services, and there is no justification for continuing the ban.

A delicate balance involving a range of health concerns apart from Covid, including mental health, and the future viability of large sectors of the economy should inform decision-making.

There are also questions as to whether the country should move to quicker antigen tests for Covid, as advocated by EU authorities, and also what preparations are being made for the rapid roll-out of a vaccine as soon as it becomes available.

Nphet should come up with coherent plans to offer Government on these issues rather than campaigning for a permanent lockdown.

Whatever decisions are made next week it will be impossible to please everybody. Opposition from some quarters is inevitable, but the important thing will be to maintain broad public support for whatever strategy is adopted. That will require emphatic and courageous leadership from the Taoiseach and his Ministers.

Chaos

As if dealing with Covid is not a big enough challenge, the Government and society have to face the fallout from Brexit. This will cause serious problems even if there is a deal, and if there isn’t there could be chaos affecting consumers, workers, employers and farmers.

At this stage it is still impossible to judge whether or not there will be a deal. Micheál Martin told the Dáil during the week that the outlines of a “landing zone” were clear, but it is still very unclear whether British prime minister Boris Johnson is prepared to land on it.

It is extraordinary that the future of the UK is now dependent on the whim of a prime minister whose only strategy is to have his cake and eat it.

How he goes about attempting to do that in the next few weeks will impact on the lives not only of his own people but of us as well.