Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure if it is possible to get a political consensus on the 1 m or 2 m guidance or the two-hour close contact rule. If there is a place to do that, it probably is the Covid committee that has been established. The committee seems to be working well and is very representative of the Dáil. I do not think it is something for the party leaders to be honest. Obviously some Members represent big parties that have a lot of political support while some are small and some are not parties at all. The right place to do that is the Covid committee. It can hear the evidence and then make a recommendation to the Government on the 1 m or 2 m rule and the two-hour contact tracing rule. It might be the best forum for political consensus to be found, if it can be found. I am not sure, however, if it can. In the meantime, we will follow the advice of the public health emergency team.

It has to be seen in its overall context, however, namely, how prevalent the virus is in the community. A set of rules that were right when there were hundreds of new cases and dozens of deaths being reported every day may not be the right rules at a time we have 30 or 50 new cases and fewer than ten deaths being reported every day. We need to bear in mind that, while there is no such thing as zero risk from this virus, as the risk reduces, then rules can be relaxed. That is what the plan is all about in many ways.

The Deputy is right in saying the public was ahead of us in terms of demanding school closures. Many businesses, pubs, restaurants and gyms closed before they were instructed to by the Government. That is what we call anticipatory behaviour, which was not necessarily bad. What we have now is another form of anticipatory behaviour, which is the public ahead of us, looking for us to unlock things, in some cases, perhaps, before we are sure it is safe to do so. I heard a call from a prominent person this morning that flying is entirely safe, for example. We have to continue to base our decisions on evidence.

The plan, as agreed by the Government and published, is a living document. I said from the very start and I will say it again that as things develop, elements of that plan could be accelerated and brought forward. I ask the public and the House, however, to hold firm for now.

We are only in phase 1. One of the reasons the phase lasts three weeks is in order that we can have proper data. We will not really know what effect the easing of the restrictions has had for about two weeks. If the numbers are still going in the right direction in the first week of June, that would give us an assurance that we could accelerate some aspects of the plan, but to do that earlier would be acting without evidence and would be premature. I ask people to hold firm until that first week in June. If the numbers are still going in the right direction at that point, we can have some confidence about bringing forward some of the things from later phases.

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