Marie-Louise Connolly
BBC News NI Health Correspondent

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Robin Swann tells the inquiry at the time he wasn’t concerned that the first Civil Contingencies meeting didn’t take place until 20 February 2020.

He says meetings were happening behind the scenes.

A list of four priorities was presented at that contingencies meeting which Mr Swann agreed seemed “limited” and “underwhelming” considering what had been shared by Cobra and England’s chief medical officer up to that point.

Mr Swann is then asked about hand written notes from an executive meeting held on 10 February 2020.

It states that the risk level from Covid is "moderate" but they were not complacent and the department was working hard in the background on it.

Ms Dobbin puts it to Mr Swann that the update on the virus was a short and generalised one.

But Mr Swann rejects this, saying the notes were the highlights rather than a full picture of what was being said.

A note suggesting that the minister may have to leave the meeting to attend a Covid briefing should suggest the issue was being taken seriously.

Mr Swann also recalled work was cross departmental to prepare for the Coronavirus Act and that executive meetings would reflect this.

"The way these meetings usually worked... I remember the First Minister, Arlene Foster, referring to them at one point as 'Now we'll move into the ask Robin section because it did actually move out into a quite engaging conversation in regards to what was happening," he adds.

Robin Swann says he was not aware that health officials were advising The Executive Office not to activate the NICCMA [NI Central Crisis Management Arrangements] until there was a covid case.

Mr Swann says he accepts that different advice may have raised the red flag sooner.

He says that perhaps The Executive office should have used their “own initiatives” to activate NICCMA and that they did not have to be reliant on the Department of Health to stand up triggering NICCMA.

Baroness Hallett interrupts to put it to Mr Swann that it was unlikely that they "would go against the Department of Health in a health emergency".

"Probably not," Mr Swann replies.

He says the advice coming from the permanent secretary and the chief medical officer was that it was “premature” to stand up the arrangements.

Image source, Covid Inquiry

Baroness Hallett asks Mr Swann "should they not have consulted you about that?"

"Potentially, my lady yes," he replies, although he says that after challenging them on it he may have also come to agree with them.

"But at least you would have had a challenge and test", Baroness Hallett says.

"So it's not just potentially, they should have asked you," she adds.

Image source, PA Media

Mr Swann is asked about requests for "surge planning" which the Department of Health sent out to the Public Health Agency (PHA) and the health boards.

Counsel to the inquiry Ms Dobbin put to Robin Swan that the PHA and the health boards were "not capable of providing the sort of surge planning that the Department of Health expected".

Mr Swann says "that would be correct".

Ms Dobbin notes when these plans were submitted to the Department of Health "they were deficient" and were sent back "for much greater detailed consideration".

"That's correct," Mr Swann adds.

Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI political correspondent

Robin Swann was asked about the minutes of a meeting on 3 February 2020 when the executive formally discussed Covid-19 for the first time.

The inquiry saw the minutes which showed lines for Mr Swann to take to set out to ministers how serious the issue was at that stage.

He said, with hindsight, if there was a failing at that point, it was that he perhaps did not make clear to other parties the significance of moving from "low to moderate" risk.

He said the "key line" was that the executive should "plan for all eventualities", but he added: "Ministers' heads were in other places having just picked up their portfolios."

Image source, UK Covid Inquiry

The inquiry has now resumed after a short break.

Just before the break, it was established that there was no formal meeting between the first minister and deputy first minister at the end of January 2020 as Stormont had just been restored.

Mr Swann had said at the end of January, health was the lead department in terms of responses to the pandemic.

When pressed by lead counsel to the inquiry Clair Dobbin KC, Mr Swann said health was never formally designated as the overall lead department and that would have been a requirement from The Executive Office - which it did not make.

Mr Swann said at the end of January 2020 he and his department were aware and planning for services becoming “overrun” by the virus.

He said at that time, NI was preparing for the worst-case scenario that China would not be able to contain the virus.

The inquiry has now taken a break.

It is due to resume in 15 minutes. Stay with us.

Marie-Louise Connolly
BBC News NI Health Correspondent

The inquiry heard that the health minister attended Cobra meeting on 24 January which was chaired by the then health secretary Matt Hancock.

He told the inquiry that it was “unusual” for Northern Ireland ministers to attend Cobra meetings, an emergency response committee within the UK government made up of ministers, civil servants and others.

He says these meetings were "challenging".

"This was pre-zoom, pre-online virtual meetings so we were dialled in so it was very much, almost felt as though we were observers there to listen to what was going on, rather than actually being full participants as to what was actually happening round the table."

Marie-Louise Connolly
BBC News NI Health Correspondent

Image source, UK Covid Inquiry

Mr Swann says “opportunities were lost” during the pandemic as no government had been in place for three years previously.

“Green sites could have been up and running to deal with cancer cases” while simultaneously dealing with Covid, Mr Swann said.

He says social care had become the “Cinderella service”.

Mr Swann says social care services were “fragile, undervalued and had been under supported".

On information being leaked to the media, Mr Swann says what should have been robust confidential meetings held around an executive table turned instead to people being driven into sides or silos before the meeting took place.

“At times there was a live feed from the meetings - which left it extremely challenging at times for ministers to be open”, Mr Swann said.

Image source, UK Covid Inquiry

The inquiry chair Baroness Hallett asked if banning electronic devices was ever discussed as an option?

Mr Swann said various attempts were made to stop the leaking.

He said at one point leaking became so “endemic that it became tolerated rather than challenged in regards to what was happening",

Mr Swann says that there was one attempt at a leak inquiry undertaken by the then permanent secretary of the Department of Finance, Sue Gray.

He said he did not believe a finding ever came from that.

Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI political correspondent

Health Minister Robin Swann says leaking of executive Covid papers was one of his largest frustrations during the pandemic.

He said he often felt it was a "deliberate" attempt to condition how the conversation about restrictions would go when the executive met.

He told the inquiry papers were often shared late with executive colleagues and would be leaked to the media.

He also said it was frustrating that information was sometimes being leaked in "live time" on social media.

Robin Swann first became Northern Ireland's health minister in January 2020.

He served in the role throughout the pandemic and returned to the job once devolution was restored in February 2024.

However, the North Antrim MLA recently announced that he will stand down from the role in order to run for a seat at Westminster.

Mr Swann, who is from Kells, is also a former leader of his party, the Ulster Unionists.

He stepped down from that position in September 2019, saying it was impacting too much on his "role as a husband and a father".

Mr Swann has been an assembly member since 2011.

Health Minister Robin Swann said it was a "lonely and challenging position" to be the sole Ulster Unionist minister at times in the executive.

But he said that during the pandemic, he believed he did have support from other parties.

He said being the sole UUP minister meant he was "unencumbered" by party structures that bound other ministers.

Image source, Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Robin Swann starts off his evidence by telling the inquiry that Stormont's health department is "one that would be avoided" by other parties in Northern Ireland when appointing ministers to the Executive through the d'Hon't process.

He says that the exception is his own party, the Ulster Unionists, who have twice chosen the role despite having other departments available to them.

"We selected health because we do believe that it is an important department; we do believe that we can deliver for the people of Northern Ireland.".

Due to give evidence at today's hearing of the Covid Inquiry is Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann.

As health minister at the start of the pandemic, Robin Swann was immersed in every twist and turn of Northern Ireland's Covid story.

His evidence is therefore expected to throw further light on how decisions were taken and the political tensions that existed within the executive.

He is likely to face questions on decisions around care homes, wearing masks, lockdowns and school closures.

Later this afternoon we'll also hear from profs Karl O'Connor and Ann-Maire Gray, who are experts from Ulster University.

Image source, MARK MARLOW/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the UK Covid Inquiry sitting in Belfast.

Appearing before the inquiry this morning is Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann.

We’ll bring you live reports, background and analysis of the proceedings.

You’ll also be able watch live from about 10:00, by clicking the play icon at the top of this page.

Image source, PA Media