It's a major, if flawed, result for the DPC after a torrid couple of weeks. Most importantly it sees the State in a major climbdown when taking a case against its own regulator, a patently absurd situation, but all the more problematic given big tech fights DPC has on its hands It is also relevant for those paying attention to civil servant big boss Robert Watt - he of the €292,000 salary - the extension of the PSC without legal backup to all public services was driven primarily by him in his role as secretary general of @IRLDeptPER

.@welfare_ie is up before PAC at present. Lots to talk about, there'll probably be quite a bit about bogus self employment, or false self employment as the Dept's sec gen describes it. Watch it here: oireachtas.ie/en/oireachtas-… This story very well may come up too: irishexaminer.com/news/arid-4076…

Latest from NPHET - 1,571 cases reported. 14 day incidence rate is now 526 per 100,000 people, a figure NPHET describes as "an extremely high incidence of disease" Modelling chief Philip Nolan says that the peak of the disease is still likely to be mid-September. Says Ireland's 14 day incidence rate is now significantly over the EU threshold

.@HSELive media briefing re #covid19ireland. Paul Reid, CEO of HSE, encourages social distancing. "It really does matter that much". Says people blaming the young doesn't help. "That won't win hearts and minds" Reid says the HSE has had "really good dialogues" with the private hospital and hotel industries regarding sourcing space to manage the virus

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection @ReginaDo is up before the Oireachtas Committee on her dept in the next few mins to talk some #PSC. Her first appearance since the whole farrago broke in August. Watch it here oireachtas.ie/en/oireachtas-… @ReginaDo Nothing particularly new in the opening statement, tho it does push the PSC's genesis back to December 1993 and the Government approval of "an integrated social services system", which is fairly emblematic of the strategy of legitimising the card by dint of decades of development

John McKeon, sec gen of @welfare_ie will be before the Public Accounts Committee shortly for the first time since the #PSC was declared illegal by @DPCIreland. You can watch it here, there should be some interesting questions... oireachtas.ie/en/oireachtas-… @welfare_ie @DPCIreland Ahead of that, the committee is discussing the Dept Finance's denial of transparency re barrister costs for the Apple appeal citing GDPR, something the @DPCIreland has utterly debunked. "This sets a very worrying precedent," says @alankellylabour

.@DPCIreland Helen Dixon is up in front of the Public Accounts Committee, starting now. Ostensibly to discuss the commission's accounts for 2018. However, you can also expect a certain not-a-national-ID-card to have a starring role #PSC Watch here: oireachtas.ie/en/oireachtas-… @DPCIreland Commissioner's opening statement:

#PSC debate kicking off in the Dail, @ReginaDo up first oireachtas.ie/en/oireachtas-… @ReginaDo .@willieodeaLIVE calling strongly for sight of the Government's "incredibly strong" legal advice regarding @welfare_ie's response to the DPC report #PSC Would be very interesting indeed to see that advice

Campaign slogan #Aras18 Briefing room is PACKED for president Michael D Higgins' campaign launch. It is ridiculously warm #Aras18

Joanne Hayes is CONCLUSIVELY NOT the mother of murdered baby John #kerrybabies "We can conclusively state that Joanne Hayes is not the mother" - Superintendent Flor Murphy