Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 9 September 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Covid-19: Legislative Framework Underpinning the State's Response

Dr. Gianni Buquicchio:

I thank the Deputy for the question. Unfortunately, I cannot answer as it is not within our competencies. I would like to come back to what Lord Sumption said just before that. I share his worry regarding the difference between parts of the country where the virus is more active and where it is not active at all. It was the case in France that after the first general lockdown there were different measures concerning different administrative regions or départements. Until some weeks ago, there was a local lockdown in one a part of France. It is possible evaluate all this afterwards. When the first general lockdown was decided, everybody was afraid of this virus, including the authorities of course, although some regions of the country were completely safe. Now they have learned the lesson and they are shaping their responses differently in the different départements. I am not talking about lockdown but wearing masks or allowing people to travel within a certain number of kilometres locally when it is really necessary.