Fine Gael reject calls for 'national government' to tackle coronavirus

Fine Gael have ruled out any idea of a “national government” in order to tackle COVID-19.

Sinn Féin have been calling for cross-party involvement in cabinet sub-committees and other meetings regarding the virus due to the current government being in a “caretaker” role post-election.

Their view is that current Minister for Health Simon Harris may not be in the position in weeks or months to come and any new minister for health must be kept abreast of the issues surrounding the outbreak.

The view was bolstered when Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan said he would “go along” with the idea of the “National Government” during an appearance on RTE’s The Week in Politics on Sunday.

A government spokesman flatly rejected the notion on Sunday night citing issues with Sinn Féin’s view on justice and policing.

‘The reasons why Sinn Féin should not participate in Government are even more valid in an emergency, particularly when it comes to national security, the Garda, the defence forces and the justice system,” he said.

We have a Government in place which is devoting its efforts to the unfolding Covid19 situation. Expert personnel are meeting on a daily basis, the new Cabinet sub-committee meets tomorrow, and the Opposition is being briefed regularly.

“Covid19 will be with us for many months and should not prevent a new government from taking office at the appropriate time. However the appointment of a new government would not make it any easier to deal with Covid19 in the short term.

“It would mean over a hundred people taking up new roles across Government, many of whom would have no prior experience of Government or their new role, and would have to devote time to read into their new brief.”