Politics

What the Taoiseach said in his speech – and what he meant

Leo Varadkar’s televised address to the nation on St Patrick’s Day – the main points

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar addresses the nation in a rare live broadcast on RTÉ Television, where he warned that this week is the ‘calm before the storm’ in the Covid-19 pandemic. Handout photograph: RTÉ/PA Wire

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Pat Leahy Political Editor
Wed Mar 18 2020 - 17:10

What the Taoiseach said: "We are in the midst of a global and national emergency – a pandemic – the likes of which none of us has seen before. So far the number of cases in Ireland has been relatively small. However, we believe that number will rise to 15,000 cases or more by the end of the month and rise further in the weeks thereafter. The vast majority of us who contract Covid-19 will experience a mild illness... but some will be hospitalised and sadly some people will die."

What he meant: This is going to be bad. People need to be prepared for a huge jump in the numbers of people infected in the coming weeks. When that happens, even with the best assistance that doctors can manage, some people are going to die from the virus. Even though we will work to keep those numbers down, they could be quite large. We will almost certainly soon get to a situation where people are dying from the virus every day. So we need to be ready for that.

What the Taoiseach said: "Many of you want to know when this will be over. The truth is we don't know yet. This emergency is likely to go on well beyond March 29th. It could go on for months into the summer so we need to be sensible in the approach we take."

What he meant: This crisis is not going away anytime soon. The schools are not going back at the end of this month, and they may not go back before the summer. Experts suggest we are several weeks away from the peak of the crisis so the restrictions on daily life introduced in the last week will continue for the foreseeable future.

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What the Taoiseach said: "At a certain point, we will advise the elderly and people who have a long-term illness to stay at home for several weeks. We are putting in place the systems to ensure that if you are one of them, you will have food, supplies and are checked on. We call this 'cocooning' and it will save many lives, particularly the most vulnerable – the most precious in our society."

What he meant: Elderly people and those who suffer from a condition that makes them more vulnerable to the virus will be advised to stay in their homes to avoid any possible contact with the virus. That stage is not here yet, but it will arrive in the coming weeks, when the virus is more widespread in society. People should prepare themselves materially and psychologically for being confined to their homes for a period of several weeks.

What the Taoiseach said: "More will be required in the coming weeks to reduce the spread of the virus. At all times we will be guided by and take the expert advice from our Public Health Emergency Team led by the chief medical officer. We will always put your life and your health ahead of any other concern. All resources that we have, financial and human, are being deployed to serve this great national effort."

What he meant: Further restrictions on social and economic life may be required in the coming weeks, as we have seen in other countries. If the Government is advised by medical experts to implement further shutdowns, that is what it will do, so people should be ready for this. The highest priority is to slow down the spread of the virus to enable the health service and hospitals to cope and save more lives, and nothing – not the economy, civil liberties or the normal functioning of society – is more important than that.

What the Taoiseach said: "We went into this crisis with a strong economy and the public finances in good order. We have the capacity and credit rating to borrow billions if we need to. I am confident that our economy will bounce back, but the damage will be significant and lasting. The bill will be enormous and it may take years to pay it. The Government has already signed off a €3 billion package for health, social welfare and business – we will take further action as needed."

What he meant: This will be expensive. The State will take on costs which will total perhaps many billions of euros in the expectation that bond markets will provide funding. But the costs of dealing with the crisis will mean that many other investment plans for the future will be put on hold.

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