Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to comment on that point. The Minister was quoted as saying at a recent press conference that in one weekend 6,000 pubs were inspected and 26 were found to be non-compliant. That can be compared with the meat plants. There is one in my own home town of Cahir. Only 39 inspections were carried out in meat plants and 30 of those were preannounced. Those figures are stark. They are the Minister's own figures. Those pubs were inspected in a single weekend. An Garda has enough to do without visiting pubs. What does the Minister have against pubs? They have not been found guilty of anything but they have been blackguarded and destroyed.

I refer also to dance schools, musicians and artists.

They are being left behind and crushed. There is also the cohort of people with disabilities, especially those on the autism spectrum and special needs children. They have really suffered and they are not fully back up and running yet. Huge attention must be given to them, which is very challenging. They must be supported because they need that.

There was a situation at Walsh Mushrooms in Golden. Why is testing not done at the plant, given there is ample space, rather than going into the middle of a village and frightening people by setting up a camp there? I salute everybody who did that and salute the community for its engagement. There is further testing next Saturday but it should be done at the plant, where there is plenty of space away from the local village. It puts fear into people when they see the Army and Garda arrive with the whole entourage. The inspections are pretty stark.

There is also the whole situation regarding the treatment of publicans who have opened. The Minister can call them what he likes today, and he can call them restaurants, but they are pubs. Many of them do food and many are forced to do food because, apparently, the €9 worth of food is better than any antidote or cure. Food is the cure.

The Minister is giving out mixed messages, which are very wrong and very damaging. I put it to him that he and the Taoiseach have dropped the ball since they took over. I wished them well when they took over but they have dropped the ball and lost public confidence. Some of that was due to the Minister's own response at a press conference where he equated the virus to children being on a trampoline or people driving a car. Those are pretty silly things to say, or else the virus is not that serious. It is one or the other, and the Minister might explain.