Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his kind words. I also thank him for his role. One of the reasons we have been able to bring people with us, apart from the brilliance of the Irish people and their own determination, is because no party has played party politics with this issue. I have sat in meetings with Deputy Howlin, Deputy Shortall and many other Deputies here since the start of this crisis, and particularly at the start of it. The approach of managing it in a public health-led way has made my role easier. I again thank the Deputy in that regard.

The Deputy is correct that viral transmission and suppressing viral transmission has to be at the core of what we do. Let us remind ourselves of how we got to the situation of the possible reopening of pubs that serve food. The public health advice was that restaurants would be in a position to reopen at an earlier stage than the traditional pub environment because people are seated and it is possible to move tables apart, etc. We are all aware of the situation in terms of people crowding at bars, etc.. A number of publicans made the point, not unreasonably, that they effectively operate as restaurants in that they serve food as well. There are some such pubs in my own constituency. There was an effort to accommodate pubs that serve food and operate like restaurants. The Deputy is well able to differentiate between the pub that serves food and has seating similar to that in a restaurant and the busy traditional bar.

I will explain how this happens. The relevant line Department or agency, in this case Fáilte Ireland, engages with the HPSC on how to proceed safely in each unique sector. The key words, as mentioned by the Deputy, are "draft guidance". I appeal to everyone to await the final guidance because I meant it when I told Deputy Feighan earlier that there must be public health advice guidance with common sense. It is important to clarify that cottage pie does not protect a person from Covid-19. In speaking about the production of final guidance, I will refer to the childcare sector as an example. I read everywhere about the debate on how to keep toddlers 2 m or 1.5 m apart, which is not possible. In that case, the line Department worked with the HPSC to come up with a bespoke solution for that sector, which is the pod.

That is the space all Departments and agencies of State need to be in. They should use the HPSC to get the best advice, interrogate that advice and interact with it. I am conscious that this draft guidance, which I do not believe has been published or finalised yet. I encourage people to engage and get a common sense, finalised agreement.

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