Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

My concern, and the concern of many committee members, is that a couple of weeks ago on Leaders' Questions, the Taoiseach said he hoped we would come out of level 5 so that we will have December and Christmas and that we may need to go back to level 5 again in January or February, and that this may be a pattern. This is very concerning for all of us and we hope it does not happen. To use the DAA as an example, it has a plan to get testing capacity up and running from its own resources. There will be natural restrictions on travel because events and concerts are not happening and people are fearful of travelling. There are also economic reasons because people have lost their jobs and do not have the money to travel. All of these factors will naturally suppress travel. Does Dr. Holohan think there could be a window? To use Dr. De Gascun's phrase, it is still just a slice of Swiss cheese in this whole approach. Can we do something now and allow the airports to get something off the ground, at least in terms of structures? We could end up not doing anything now and after December we could be at level 5 again in January. Suddenly it will be the spring and the airports will have lost all of this time. Could they even get the basics and the physical infrastructure in place for a testing regime? Is there no fear about the implications of this for jobs and the economy?