Stephen Donnelly has been ridiculed after making a major blunder when discussing Ireland's vaccination rollout on national radio.
After being grilled on Tuesday's Prime Time by Sarah McInerney, the Minister for Health appeared on Newstalk Breakfast on Wednesday to discuss the vaccination rollout plan among other things.
The Minister claimed that those in their 40s would have received a vaccination by June and that things were ''full steam ahead'' as the "really effective" Johnson and Johnson vaccination was given the all-clear by the European Medicines Agency earlier this month.
But he made a huge blunder when asked to give a date for when the majority of people would be vaccinated and if the Government's target of 82% by the end of June is still on track.
Mr Donnelly said: "The vaccine target is not a race to the 31st of June. If the vaccines continue to come in on target, then four in five adults will be given a vaccine by the end of June. There's no magic of the 31st of June."
Of course, there is no 31st of June, as June only has 30 days. And it led to ridicule of the Minister on social media.
One person wrote: "If it never becomes the 31st of June then you can't miss the 31st of June target."
A second mused: "At this stage it wouldn’t surprise me if extra new days were added to this year."
Most people made the same joke by referring to an old nursery rhyme a lot of us were taught in school about how to remember how many days are in each month.
While another said: "Poor @DonnellyStephen needs to recite ‘30 days has September, April, JUNE & November’."
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said on Wednesday that Ireland will be in a “very good position by June” in terms of the vaccine rollout.
He told Northern Sound: “The original target was to try and get 80% (of adult population) a first dose by the end of June and there has been changes to the schedule, there has been delays.
“We have lost a number of weeks because of the various advices from NIAC, particularly on AstraZeneca and the cancellation of Johnson and Johnson.
“We are still pursing that target and going after that target.
“I’m saying the deliveries that are coming in to the country in Q2 is over four million, before the end of June.
“We have advice coming in, and if it doesn’t come in with any further hitches we will have a very robust vaccination programme. We will be in a very good position by June.”
