Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Through the enormous efforts and sacrifices of the people, as a society we have succeeded in controlling the spread of Covid-19. In the words of the experts, the curve has been flattened. We have seen an increase in the R number - the rate of infection - in the past couple of days. We have seen a greater number of people testing positive, but we have got to be careful in terms of our response.The blanket approach of closing everything, as done at the start, will not work again. This is all about keeping the Irish people on board. If we are to continue with that success, we will have to take far more specific measures that the Irish people will deem to be proportionate. Like others, I am concerned about the blanket proposal to keep all public houses closed. Public houses in many rural areas are large, but such has been the change in Irish society that they are not used to large numbers any more. That has been happening for the past seven or eight years.

I cannot understand why it is not possible to put in place proposals and measures that would allow the pubs to open in line with expectations by limiting numbers according to square footage, ensuring a degree of social distancing and requiring patrons to leave the premises after a set period of time. These are the same conditions that were placed on gastropubs and restaurants. Let us be honest. The opening of the pubs will not trigger an influx of people from all over the parish, with people who never drank before rocking into pubs overnight. I do not expect that to happen. We have to look at this carefully and proceed in a way that keeps the Irish people in tune with what is going on so they stay with the programme and feel they are making some progress. I ask for a rethink on the part of the authorities on how best to achieve that approach and continue, with the support of the Irish people, through this very difficult period.