Varadkar issues ultimatum to Fine Gael ministers

“Leo has put the ministers on warning that if they don't deliver their agendas for next year, decisions will be made next December,” one source told the Irish Examiner.

He said work from ministers and their departments in the first six months of 2022 was absolutely essential, and they need to be encouraged and supported.

Fine Gael has been in power since 2011, with Mr Varadkar and foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney in office uninterrupted since then.

Paschal Donohoe and Heather Humphreys are the next long-serving at Cabinet, with Simon Harris in office since 2016, while Helen McEntee is a relatively new minister.

Some party sources, speaking privately, see such comments as “a bit of waffle” in order to distract from poor opinion poll ratings.

Fine Gael are in a slump, but Leo is trying to turn it around, but people are jaded with us,” said one TD.

At the meeting, there was significant criticism of Sinn Féin and the need for the party to “take them on”.

Kerry TD and deputy Government whip Brendan Griffin gave what several sources said was a “brilliant speech in terms of rallying the troops”.

“It was like a speech you'd hear at the half-time of an All-Ireland final,” the source said. 

He said we need to take on Sinn Féin. He pointed to a picture of Michael Collins in our room and said he would not lie down, and neither should we."

Junior minister Peter Burke was praised for his combative interview alongside Sinn Fein’s Matt Carthy on RTÉ Radio yesterday.

On Covid, Mr Varadkar said there are no plans to close schools early, and they will reopen as scheduled in January.

Despite a call from party senator Jerry Buttimer to close schools early from this Friday, Mr Varadkar ruled out any premature closure, despite the mounting concern around the Omicron variant.

He said 1.75m people or more will have received their third Covid vaccination jab by Christmas, and a total of 2m by the new year. He also said the incidence rate amongst 5- to 11-year-olds was falling.

Restating his sense of peculiarity around the enhanced restrictions at a time of falling numbers, Mr Varadkar said we were in an unusual situation in that we were winning the battle against Delta, thanks to the three-dose programme and people following public health advice.

We will know the full extent of Omicron in the future, but it could be the dominant strain here by the end of next week," he said.

A total of 250,000 PCR tests are being carried out every week, along with 100,000 free antigen tests.

All Fine Gael public representatives will have a meeting on January 15 next, in line with public health advice at the time, the meeting heard.