Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is incredibly interesting listening to experts at different points in the debate discuss matters with each other. In many ways, perhaps us listening to that more would be useful but I suppose where we, as public representatives, can contribute to the debate is in our experience of dealing with the general public. There was much talk at the beginning of this pandemic about flattening the curve - a well-understood and well-communicated concept - but when we got to the end of the process in that regard, we did not have a conversation with the people about the point at which we wanted to plateau. Looking at the United States, it is clear that it is plateauing at a very high, and perhaps unacceptable, rate. Then one looks at Ireland and Scotland, which have a much more conservative approach, and New Zealand. We must yet have that debate with the public because, even at the height of the pandemic and the debate on flattening the curve, there were people who clung to the rules and who wanted more rules and there were those who were willing to ignore them. In the past week or two, I have noticed increasingly different shades of opinion, with some even saying they do not believe this pandemic is real. It is clear that the pandemic is real and that is having a real impact on people's health and lives, but what is being said by some demonstrates how we need to bring the public with us in whatever debate we have.

On Professor Staines six recommendations regarding how we get to a zero-Covid island, a previous speaker indicated that it is really about a stricter implementation of what we currently have. I refer, for example, to the communications strategy in respect of hand hygiene and social distancing, the increased use of masks indoors, the commitment given by the Minister yesterday that we will sustain the level of track and tracing, the closure of some counties - and the consequent prevention of travel - and the instruction by Government on non-essential foreign travel. At the same time, we are leaving the latter to the discretion of individuals. In many ways, Ireland is pursuing the strategy which Professor Staines has outlined. Am I correct in saying that he would like to see the prevalence of the disease plateau at a lower level? In many ways, we have made the decision to try to be as conservative as possible.