Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

On 26 March, this House gave the Minister very extensive powers to bring in regulations to protect people from Covid-19. He did not do so for almost two weeks and people continued to behave responsibly. On 7 March, he brought in regulations and, on 10 March, he continued them. The next day, he said that when the R0 rate went below 1, we would see an easing of restrictions. We did not see that for several days but everybody has continued to behave responsibly and to make huge sacrifices, and our health services have risen to the challenge.

I have heard the Minister say several times today that we are the fourth in Europe for testing.

Is all of that not being undermined by our failure to introduce any restrictions at our airports? There is a new story today that 34% refuse even to give an address. There is no law in place whatsoever.

I will point the Minister to Austria, a country a little bit like Ireland. It is a relatively small and neutral open trading country that relies on transit and its openness to the world. Austria is now opening up in a way we can only dream of. At the same time, Austria has a very extensive testing procedure in place at its airports. People cannot pass the frontier unless they have a test that is less than four days old to say they do not have Covid-19 or they can undergo a test at the airport. We have none of this. Austria has an open border and workers regularly cross the border with Bavaria in Germany, and have done for decades, just as we have a border we want to keep open with Northern Ireland. Austria has a sensible policy of maintaining exemptions for people who have to cross the border to work or see family members and for truckers carrying goods, as we could have. However, we do not have a sensible policy. We have a policy that undermines all of the efforts of our people and all of the efforts of our health professionals.

The Minister has extended these regulations until 18 May. If he does not bring in regulations by next week to deal with the frontier, I am telling him now that I will put the regulations that are in place to a vote in the House, as I am entitled to do, because I feel that all of the sacrifices required under those regulations, and the sacrifices people are making outside of the regulations because they see the necessity to do so, are being undermined by the failure of the Minister and the Government to introduce restrictions in our airports, where 34% of people pass by our HSE officials whistling Dixie and not even telling them where they are going. I ask the Minister to reply.

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