Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Will everything else be as easy? I know it has been acknowledged in the past couple of weeks that people coming into the country, particularly through our airports, are in some cases not even filling in forms on where they are going, never mind the issue of making sure they are self-isolating. This is something that troubles many people. The vast majority of people in our communities are abiding by the regulations and doing everything they can to ensure they minimise the spread of Covid-19. However, they feel somehow cheated because people who come into the country can move around and are not receiving the same level of scrutiny as others. It has been mooted in recent days that there may be a role for An Garda Síochána in checking on people. This would be a positive step but it has not yet been formally set out how it will happen. Perhaps the Minister will explain that and set out what is planned in that regard because it worries and concerns many people, particularly the case of people who come into the country with caravans and mobile homes, travel around the country and seem to be able to do this without any regulation or guidance.

Another important issue is the good work that is being done by An Garda Síochána in policing this and making sure there is close monitoring of the restrictions. However, the absence of personal protective equipment, PPE, is concerning. Every evening on the"Six One" news, we see examples from other countries and states around Europe. The police in Italy, Spain and other countries are all wearing protective equipment, masks and gloves. We then see a clip of gardaí talking to somebody at a checkpoint in Ireland. They walk up to the window and speak to someone in a car while wearing no protective equipment. The next car comes along and the gardaí do it again. The mind boggles as to how we are telling the public to be careful and socially distant when the same rule does not seem to apply to An Garda Síochána. There have been many cases of members of the Garda who have gone into self-isolation with Covid-19 or suspected Covid-19. There are also issues around the speed at which tests for Covid-19 are coming back. There are a lot of issues around that which need to be worked out.

I know there was a recommendation that members of the Garda would not use protective equipment. Was that because it was not available? A lot of people have an issue with that. Many rank-and-file gardaí have told me of their concern that the equipment simply was not there and that is why a recommendation was made not to use it. It would be worthwhile for the Minister to clear that up.

There is also an issue about what happens and how all of this works in Garda stations. People who enter Garda stations at present are taken into a small room for an interview and there are no precautions and nothing is set out as to how they can socially distance. They may be a number of hours in the room and may have to be accompanied by a solicitor. Nothing has been done in respect of that. The procedures in that regard are the treatment of persons in custody regulations. That issue of how that can that be worked out and improved upon must be looked at.

There is also the issue of the Courts Service. The Minister mentioned in his statement what is happening with the Courts Service. Last Friday, there was a statement that there would be an improvement in that respect. It is clear that significant issues exist there. There is a considerable backlog of people waiting to have fairly minor situations sorted out and repeatedly being put off. It is causing great distress to people and modern technology should be used where possible. It clearly is possible in many cases, because we know that modern technology is used between the Prison Service and the Courts Service. It can be deployed to resolve many of these issues and that needs to be done with the utmost speed.

Everyone in this House recognises that the direct provision model for asylum seekers we traditionally have had in Ireland for the past number of years has had huge problems that we must deal with. I believe there is a process to try to deal with them. We all recognise there are issues and that some people in direct provision are facing serious problems. Cahirsiveen has been mentioned and is one example. Approximately a quarter of the people in that direct provision centre have tested positive for Covid-19. It is a real issue that needs to be dealt with.

There are other issues in other places around the country that need to be dealt with. It can be done. I use the example of Cahirsiveen. There have been offers made to use holiday cottages which are not being used at all at the moment. They are empty and no one is going to the villages in which those holiday cottages are. There is also empty student accommodation that could be used in some cases. Taking such an approach could thin out the numbers and ensure that the correct levels of social distancing can be employed, particularly in direct provision settings.

I acknowledge that direct provision is a very difficult area and that many people in the Department are doing their best. However, there are gaps in some places that need to be filled. I also acknowledge the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, to whom I have spoken on many occasions in recent weeks on many of these issues and I am aware that work is being done. In some cases, however, a little more imagination could be used and some of the existing guidelines and rules need to be stretched a little more to ensure we can resolve these issues. Many of the people in those situations feel imprisoned and that is the problem. It sometimes is a communication problem. Those people are being told that, because of Covid-19, they must self-isolate and must be controlled. That is what they are trying to get away from and those are the very reasons they came to this country in the first place.

There are issues that need to be dealt with. There is an opportunity for the Minister to do that, to stretch the guidelines a little bit and use other forms of accommodation, outside the existing models of direct provision. I acknowledge that many such people, approximately 20% or 25%, are in own-door accommodation at present but to go further down that road in this emergency situation would resolve a lot of the existing issues and I implore the Minister to do that.

The issues that we raise about justice, as has been said by others, come into the area of equality.

This is particularly so in the case of domestic violence, and the problems relating to it have to be worked upon. Important voluntary work is being done by many of the domestic violence agencies but they are under major stress at the moment and do not have the ability to raise funds. The Minister and his Department, or some section of the Government, need to come in and assist them with funding to ensure they can continue to do their good work.

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