John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While I recognise that the European Council has yet to reach agreement on the specifics of the roll-out of the Covid-19 crisis response, it is no less than an injustice to Ireland that the EU has failed to recognise the potential severity of the challenge that Ireland faces. Taking a moment to recognise the human cost of the Covid-19 crisis right across Europe, and here at home in this State, where more than 1,700 of our citizens have perished, I also want to bring attention to the fact that this is not the only serious challenge which has presented consequences that this island has been forced to address. Ireland has had to contend with a trifecta of major challenges. They are unprecedented, once in a generation trials, from the banking crisis to the impending challenge of Brexit and, of course, Covid-19.

Under the current EU recovery proposals, Ireland is due to receive just €3 billion of the €750 billion fund, or 0.0143%. This is due to the mechanism being deployed by the European Commission to calculate disbursements, and this is simply unacceptable. The mechanism does not accurately reflect the impact of the virus on the economy. This State has seen the fourth highest number of reported cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people in figures from the EU, EEA and the UK. It is incumbent upon this Government to demand recognition not only of this fact but also of the substantial human suffering that is being wrought upon the people of this country as it is forced to claw its way back from the chasm of economic despair of the previous decade.

Four years on from the folly of Brexit, we are in the midst of the countdown to the final denouement of a drama that has transfixed Europe. How this will impact us as an island is yet to be fully determined. We know that it will require the kind of response that we associate with a nationally co-ordinated plan of action. If only there was no other unprecedented, once in a generation event to which we must also direct the nation's efforts.

As we are faced with the challenge of formulating a recovery strategy from the Covid-19 virus, we must take cognisance of the impact of the devastation wrought by this Government's austerity-driven response to the previous virus visited upon us, which was the virus of greed. Never again should the ordinary people of this island, including workers and families, be forced to shoulder the burden of austerity. Globally and here at home, restrictions brought about by the lockdown have allowed many the time to reorder what we believe to be important to us in life. Perhaps the Government might take a moment to review its instinctive response to crises and maybe take this opportunity to pivot away from the failed politics of austerity. The regressive measures that have punished the ordinary people of this country while rewarding banking fat cats, vulture funds and speculators who have fed off the misery of others must be left in the past.

We must look to the future, offering confidence and compassion. The Government must assume the role of protector of the citizenry of the State. Our response must be one of investment in people, infrastructure and business. As IBEC warns that, without drastic intervention, thousands of businesses face bankruptcy within six months, we must develop a mechanism to protect business leaseholders who are being asked single-handedly to take the hit for rents owed over the period of the lockdown. Elsewhere in Europe, such as in France, the emphasis is on sharing the burden between Government, business and landlords. We must do everything that we can to protect small and medium enterprises and otherwise thriving businesses which are faced with potential closure through no fault of their own. The burden of recovery must be shouldered fairly. As the Taoiseach himself previously stated, we are all in this together.

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