Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank both our guests. Like Deputy Durkan, I do not have any legal background, so I will ask a few general questions. The steps the Government has taken in recent months have been intended to fight a pandemic, as was the case in every other country. In Ireland specifically, we were also trying to prevent our hospitals from being overrun. We do not have the capacity of countries like the UK or Germany. As a result, it was very important to restrict the spread of infection as much as possible. As Lord Sumption highlighted, as we begin to open up, we are experiencing the increased rate of infection that other countries are experiencing, although this seems to be mostly confined to younger age groups.

Since the beginning of lockdown, we have faced the closure of many sectors of the economy. I refer particularly to what are called "wet pubs", that is, establishments that do not serve food and just serve alcohol. Later in the lockdown, the regulations under the Health Act 1947 were softened to allow gastropubs to open. This allowed people to congregate and eat. We are hoping for the wet pubs to open in the coming months. I have spoken about the idea of regionalisation at meetings of this committee in recent months. At present, Dublin has one of the highest rates of infection in the country. The constituency I represent has one of the lowest but we have had to adhere to the national health advice. If there is a very low concentration of disease and if, ultimately, it is found that wet pubs in my constituency could have opened, are there grounds for judicial review? Could such a thing be considered if this pattern is repeated?