Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to commiserate with all the families who have lost loved ones to this deadly disease. I want to thank all the people, each and every one, for the extraordinary sacrifice they have made and undertaken in the past six or seven weeks.

I am calling on the Taoiseach to get as many people back to work as soon as is safely possible. This includes construction work and builders who may be working on one-off houses. I want the Taoiseach to explore the possibility of getting those people back as soon as possible as well as in industries where social distancing is possible. Many companies and businesspeople will be unable to return, sadly.

For farmers, I am asking the Taoiseach to open up the marts and at least allow competition in the market.

We should allow those over 70 years of age out of confinement, even with a mask to go to the local shop. It is not fair on them when we see people coming here off ferries and planes and going in their midst and close to them into holiday homes and local shops. No one is monitoring whether they are isolating when they come in off these ferries.

Like Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, I am asking the Taoiseach to consider those over 66 years of age who were employing people and who gave employment. We should bring their pension up to €350.

What about the seasonal workers? Kerry depends so much on hotel workers, bus drivers and all that. If the lockdown had not come for another week or two, all these people would have been back to work. Now, they are running down their stamps. Some of them do not have any stamps left. They are not entitled to jobseeker's welfare because their partners have other incomes. They are left behind.

Following the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael budget, tonight 2 cent per litre is being added by way of carbon tax to the price of petrol and diesel while the whole of the country is closed down - that is the fact of it. They are doing their best to get the Green Party on board. What will the carbon tax charge be when they have the Green Party with them? They are talking about reducing the national herd. We read today that the US is in serious trouble in providing beef yet we are supposed to reduce the national herd. I am amazed that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are considering blocking the Shannon liquefied natural gas project. North Kerry has been starved of jobs for years. Millions of euro have been put into this project, not to mind the importance of having access to this natural gas.

Why is the Government not calling for an investigation into how and when this virus began in China? Is it the case that the Government does not want to know? I can tell the Taoiseach that all those who have lost loved ones to this deadly disease would like to know and be told the truth. They cannot touch, embrace or talk to their loved ones who are gone forever. This virus was in China long before 20 January.

Some of the PPE the Government paid for and went out of its way to thank publicly the Chinese for was given to them by the Italians in early December. I am asking the Government not to buy another bottle from the Chinese to contain this virus until we know the truth. The people are entitled to the truth. I am calling on the United Nations to carry out an international investigation into what happened. We need to know. If the Chinese are culpable, or whoever it is, they will have a job in compensating the world. They will never compensate for the people who have died but they should be made to pay compensation in respect of the money countries around the world have lost, none more so than Ireland.

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