Ms Orla Hegarty:

As I understand it, the work safety protocol was reissued last week. This does mention ventilation. I have been reading quite a lot of sectoral guidance since May of last year when the construction industry produced its first set of advice. These documents come across as official guidance and people in the sector are taking them as official because they have yellow covers and an official imprimatur. They are often highly inconsistent and unscientific however. Other than the work safety protocol, I do not know of any clear advice for anybody opening a shop or small business. I believe many people mean well but are not doing the right things. In some cases, they may be making the situation worse. It is really important that a clear message goes out.

With regard to households, again I suspect that a lot of infection was happening in cars, as well as in homes. When people are told not to meet or that two households can meet together, the risk does not relate to whether two or three households are involved but to the air conditions in the room.

It is the equivalent of inviting a smoker into one's home. How would someone deal with that situation? How would it be worse if there were ten people in the room and two of them were smoking? People must understand the logic of that. It can be very dangerous in a car with two people.