Varadkar retains confidence in Donnelly despite latest blunder

Health minister had claimed the EU was taking legal action against AstraZeneca over its failure to meet vaccine delivery targets, which the EU swiftly denied

Leo Varadkar's spokesperson last night said the Tánaiste continues to have confidence in Stephen Donnelly.

The Tánaiste has said he still has confidence in the health minister after he wrongly claimed that the EU had launched legal proceedings against AstraZeneca.

The European Commission quickly moved to deny a claim made by Stephen Donnelly that a legal case had been initiated by the EU against the pharmaceutical giant.

Mr Donnelly's gaffe comes less than a week after he caused a significant headache for the Government by suggesting that under 30s would be prioritised in the vaccination rollout.

Mr Donnelly told the Dáil a case was being launched over AstraZeneca's “complete failure” to meet its contractual agreements.

“With regards to AstraZeneca, a legal case has been initiated by the commission.

“Earlier this week, I have joined Ireland as one of the parties to that case, specifically around AstraZeneca’s complete failure to meet its delivery contractual agreements for April, May and June," he said.

However, an EU Commission spokesman said a decision to launch legal action "has not been taken at this point in time.”

Leo Varadkar's spokesperson last night said the Tánaiste continues to have confidence in Mr Donnelly.

It comes as the Government waits for a decision on the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Mr Varadkar warned it would be "virtually impossible" to meet the target of vaccinating 80% of adults by the end of June if the J&J vaccine was restricted to the over-60s.

Yesterday also saw an increase in Covid-19 case numbers to 617, which health officials have partially attributed to secondary school children, and which comes ten days after some restrictions were eased.

Dr Philip Nolan of the National Public Health Emergency Team said the trend was likely to be "transient" and similar trends were seen after the return of primary schools earlier in the year. 

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan offered some hope that broader trends give Ireland cause "to be ambitious" in easing restrictions in the coming months, once cases don't increase further.

A concern, though, is an outbreak of the virus at the Intel construction site in Co Kildare, where 70 cases have been confirmed.