'Embarrassed' Phil Hogan does not accept he broke Covid-19 guidelines

European Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan who has been under fire in the wake of the 'Golfgate' scandal

Phil Hogan says that he is "embarrassed" by his attendance at last week's Oireachtas Golf Society dinner, but said that he does not accept the HSE assertion that he broke Covid-19 guidelines.

Speaking to RTÉ News this evening, his first media interview since his attendance at the event was revealed, Mr Hogan said that he was entitled to move around Ireland freely due to testing negative for the virus in a Dublin hospital on August 5.

Mr Hogan accepted that he had made mistakes in his handling of the issue.

"I should have issued a fulsome apology on the Friday when all of this was breaking. I did not do so, and I regret that. I apologised strongly on Sunday and I did that in as fulsome a way as I possibly could.

"I broke no regulations in my view. I did my work. I was home on holidays. I tested negative for Covid-19 but I did not break any Covid-19  regulations.

I apologise profusely to the Ireland people and I hope they will accept that.

However, he said he is strongly of the belief that he broke no quarantining rules.

In tweets this evening, the HSE has confirmed that a person coming from any country not on Ireland's Green List should isolate for 14 days.

"You are still asked to restrict movements for 14 days because it can take up to 14 days for the virus to show up in your system after you have been exposed to it."

However, Mr Hogan said that he did not accept that guidance, saying that a Citizens Information website article cleared him to freely travel around the country.

The interview did not touch on the Irish Examiner's revelation earlier today that Mr Hogan had been in Limerick on the night before his 14-day self-isolation period was due to expire on August 13.

Multiple sources have confirmed that Mr Hogan was in the Dunraven Arms on August 12, though the timeline he supplied to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen only mentions the following day, where he played golf at Adare Manor.