Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will take seven minutes and Deputies Quinlivan and Wynne will take four minutes each. I welcome the announcement of the establishment of a task force for aviation recovery. It is very much needed and I ask that it be established and get through its work as quickly as possible. I recommend and encourage the Minister to include the unions representing workers, including Fórsa, SIPTU and IALPA, in the stakeholder forum. It is important that they are represented.

I acknowledge that in the Minister's opening statement he stated he is concerned that the industry has no certainty about when business might grow again. This is a significant destabilising influence in and of itself. I point out to the Minister that the aviation industry, citizens and customers of the industry look to him, as the Minister, and the Government for direction on this.

At the Covid-19 committee yesterday the Secretary General of the Department of Health said NPHET advised the Government on 3 April that the passenger locator form and 14-day period of self isolation should be mandatory. The Government ignored that advice. More than three weeks later, on 26 April, the passenger locator form was introduced but it was voluntary and not very well adhered to, as we know. Only on 28 May, a further five weeks later, was the form made mandatory.

On what basis did the Government ignore the NPHET advice on 3 April only to be half implemented on 28 May, a full eight weeks later?

See this speech in context