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CABINET IS EXPECTED to sign off on the scrapping of isolation periods for close contacts with no symptoms who have received their booster jab.
Public health advice received by government last night also recommends that people who test positive on an antigen test should not need a confirmatory PCR test.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said yesterday evening that he has also received a recommendation that all isolation periods for those with symptoms and are testing positive will be brought to seven days across the board.
Speaking to Newstalk’s Hard Shoulder yesterday, the health minister said the recommendation that confirmatory a PCR test would be removed for those testing positive on antigen is “very positive” .
“It makes it easier for people, they don’t have to go and get a second test, and it frees up some of the pressure on the PCR system as well because obviously we want people to be able to get those PCR tests as quickly as possible. So that’s the first main major change,” he said.
People will be able to log their positive antigen test on a new online system which will be integrated into the contact tracing system, said the minister. He said this could result in a large surge of cases being notified daily.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said he would welcome the relaxation of the isolation rules.
“There does come a point sometimes with public health advice, you have to get the balance right and sometimes, advice and regulations can do more harm than good. That’s why I think that they should be eased. But we’re very much relying on the CMO to make sure that we do it in a way that is safe and doesn’t cause the virus to spread more rapidly.
“What I’d anticipate is they’ll probably make some recommendations around people who are fully vaccinated and boosted and that’ll be in line with what the ECDC has recommended at the weekend,” Varadkar told Newstalk yesterday.
“I think for people who are boosted and have had the third dose, who don’t have symptoms and have a negative antigen test, it would make sense for us to allow them to go back to work and get on with their normal lives,” he said.
There is a need for Ireland to begin to ease up on restrictions as the Omicron wave dissipates, he added. However, he also indicated that any lifting of restrictions will be done on a phased basis throughout February.
Donnelly agreed, stating: “I hope we get back to normal life very soon.”
Once the threat of Omicron subsides, “we need to be getting back”.
Online Safety Commissioner
Separately, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin will bring a memo to government seeking to publish the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill as well as establish the Media Commission and start recruiting for an Online Safety Commissioner.
The publication of the legislation will begin the process for a new watchdog for the first time to regulate online services and to reduce the availability of harmful content.
Government will be asked to approve the commencement of the recruitment of an Online Safety Commissioner, who will act as a regulator to enforce accountability in the sector.
The Online Safety Commissioner will be tasked with overseeing the regulatory framework for online safety and will devise binding online safety codes setting out how regulated online services, including certain social media services, are expected to deal with defined categories of harmful online content on their platforms.
The categories of harmful online content include criminal material, serious cyber-bullying material and material promoting self-harm, suicide and eating disorders.
The Online Safety Commissioner will have a range of powers to ensure compliance, including the power to require the provision of information and to appoint authorised officers to conduct investigations.
In the event of a failure to comply with a relevant online safety code, and subject to court approval, the Media Commission will have the power to sanction non-compliant online services, including through financial sanctions of up to €20 million or 10% of turnover.
The Bill will also establish a new body, a multi-person Media Commission which will include the Online Safety Commissioner.
This new body will be responsible for overseeing updated regulations for broadcasting and video on-demand services and the new regulatory framework for online safety created by the Bill.
The Media Commission will take on the current functions of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and regulate both television and radio broadcasters. The Commission will also be responsible for the regulation of video on-demand services, with new regulations to be set out in media codes and rules, which will address issues such as programme standards, advertising, sponsorship, product placement, accessibility and other matters.
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If the cost of gas and oil goes up, the cost of generating electricity via those goes up but profits shouldn’t so why are the energy companies making huge profits?
@Jim Buckley Barrett: all end user prices are based on gas unit which has rocketed.
Most energy is generated from Coal, nuclear and renewable now.
Those are making massive profit. All based on gas unit as they are tied together for market reasons but are looking moving to new pricing system.
@Jim Buckley Barrett: Consumer prices are based on spot price on markets, which is a result of speculation. Energy companies probably hedged prices anyway. They aren’t actually paying the spot price.
@Jim Buckley Barrett: As a result of hedging as someone above pointed out…… Electric Ireland as a ringed fence business made a 44 million loss on their interim report….. Oil doesnt generate much electricity for us. It is around the same wholesale price as it was before the war. Its still expensive now because its traded in dollars and the euro is weak vs the dollar.
@Jim Buckley Barrett: Well Leo doesn’t envisage a mini-budget but won’t rule it out, more double speak so that he can lie and hold a mini-budget if FFG are still struggling in the opinion polls next year. They will probably have a mini-budget for popularity reasons before they hit total rock bottom in the hope that they can fool the electorate once again.
They are not energy credits for households, they are energy credits for price gouging power companies
Why don’t they drop the commercial model of the ESB and only charge the consumers what they have to? We do still own it.
Everyone can move back to Electric Ireland and let the price gougers match the price or sink.
We shouldn’t be using our taxes to feed their profits.
@John Smith: That’s anti competitive. We have to create an artificial energy market so that speculators and investors can profit from it.
@Gerard Carthy: We set a new market price, if they fail to adapt, then their business can go the way of the Kodak. Let the market decide. ;)
@John Smith: Every supplier bar Electric Ireland (under ESB) goes bust in that case. Then the other suppliers take multi million/billion lawsuits against the government for illegally subsidising Electric Ireland/fixing prices……… Electric Ireland as a ringed fence business has made a loss of 44 million so far this year, despite the increase in prices for their customers. This article explains a bit of it https://m.independent.ie/business/irish/how-esb-can-make-obscene-357m-profit-in-six-months-as-families-hit-by-sky-rocketing-energy-bills-41993649.html
More money from public finances transferred to corporations. Nationalise energy. They won’t as they are wedded to their failed ideologies.
@Shukran Don Dada: other countries have nationalised their energy production and it’s been a disaster. It’s a good sound bite but doesn’t work.
@Paul Clancy: it does!
@Shukran Don Dada: you say that like it’s an easy task and a guarantee!
@SPQH: It may not be easy, is that an excuse to not do something? What we have now isn’t working. Although unwilling to make any hard decisions is the FF &FG way though and the “band-aid” solutions are keeping prices high.
So what happens next year & the year after & the year after that ? We still won’t be able to heat our homes or will the government keep giving out money!
Oh look at me how fiscally responsible I am. Um no – our debt has more than doubled from €110bn to €250bn under your watch!
I won’t be listening to a word he says. He is our version of lizz Truss. But wearing and recording his fondess for nolvety socks. Which I believe are synonymous with narcissists.
@Brian Lee: 100% spot on Brian
Can’t believe this “got into a seat by the skin of his teeth” man is going to be in charge again!
@Patricia O’Brien: I know its a fekn joke, hopefully this will be his last time come election in 2025 if not sooner. A narcissist who is so out of touch with reality its scary.
Totally detached from reality. If we could flash those muppets down the toilet at once, not to hear them or see them would be a great.
@Pavel Shipilov: how did anyone vote for him, he doesn’t live in the real world
Just put a cap on it, seems like throwing money away at this stage when most other countries have capped the price per unit. No one wants these piece meal handouts, means constant worry.
have your say