The Minister for European Affairs has said he is not confident we have got the full story about Phil Hogan’s movements in Ireland yet.

The EU Trade Commissioner yesterday published a list of everywhere he went after returning to Ireland from Brussels earlier this month.

He revealed that he ended his two-week self-isolation period early after testing negative for the virus. He also said his travel to and from Kildare while the county was in lockdown was to collect essential papers for work.

Just hours later however, The Irish Times reported a social visit to County Roscommon that was not on the list.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, the European Affairs Minister Thomas Byrne said he was not confident we now have a clear picture of the commissioner’s movements.

“There was trip to Roscommon or a number of visits in Roscommon that The Irish Times have reported on that were not in the itinerary so the answer to that is absolutely no.

“I don’t have confidence we have got the full picture because we haven’t got a full picture. We have got a list of places the commissioner has gone to and then The Irish Times reported subsequently that in fact it did not include a number of other visits.

“I thought it was good device from the European Commission to ask him to set out exactly where he had been.

“That may have given confidence had we been able to get confidence but there are holes in it already.”

Thomas Byrne: Photo Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

In his report to the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Commissioner Hogan said the Citizens Information website had informed him that a negative allowed him to end his quarantine.

However, the webpage he referenced is targeted at people who are tested because they have experienced symptoms of the virus or are close contacts of a confirmed case - not those who have recently arrived in Ireland.

Government guidelines require two-weeks isolation on return from a non-green-list country regardless of any test result.

Clear guidelines

Minister Byrne said the advice online is “very, very clearly there on every aspect of this.”

He said Commissioner Hogan clearly breached public health guidelines, “not once but on on a number of occasions.”

“In full public view and in circumstances where clearly he should have known better and where the advice is extremely clear,” he said.

Trade

He said having an Irishman in the EU trade post is a “huge advantage” for the country with Brexit looming; however, he warned that, if President von der Leyen fails to take action, it could undermine the Irish people’s confidence in the European project.

“There is no doubt that if senior politicians and senior leaders can flout rules then it massively undermines public confidence in the rules that we have,” he said. “Rules that our public health experts believe are absolutely necessary to save lives and reduce the cases of coronavirus.

“We have had big support in this country for the European Union and I have said, over the airwaves to Ursula Von der Leyen, that that support is jeopardised if commissioners are seen to be able to flout the rules.

“The view from the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and the Green Party in what has to be said is an unprecedented statement, is that Commissioner Hogan clearly breached the rules.”

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