Mr. Neil McDonnell:

I echo what Mr. McCoy said. From the outset, we never suggested speeding up public health measures in order to get people back to business.

We have said consistently that we need to get people back to work as soon as is safely possible. Similarly, I remember a call that Mr. McCoy and I had with the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, where we said very succinctly to her that the public health process and the business process are not two that can go in sequence. In other words, we recognised that we were not going to have the virus to zero by the time we started reopening the economy, and that there would be a parallel process. We expect to hear from the Government on what is safe to do. If we just wait around to see what happens, the consequences for the State, the Exchequer and society are going to be very grim.