Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree. According to our public opinion tracking research, the level is now 45%. I imagine that is variable. It is probably variable by public transport compared with retail, or by types of retail or different workplaces and different parts of the country. It will be interesting to see whether there are some areas where there is a lot of compliance. The solidarity and uptake in the measures has been extraordinary. We have got the virus in Ireland down to a really low level, one of the lowest in Europe. That is down to great leadership from people such as Dr. Holohan and some extraordinary work from front-line workers, officials in the Department and the HSE, members of An Garda Síochána and people further afield, such as the people keeping the shops open and keeping us all fed. There is a lot of buy-in. We all understand how awful it will be if there is a big resurgence and we have to put more restrictions in place. The tracker app will help. The recommendation not to engage in foreign travel - and where such travel happens, to travel to green-list countries only - will help. I think there will be a lot of buy-in and there has been a lot of buy-in. There was a lot of reporting about serious infringements of social distancing in Dublin city but the vast majority of the country was compliant. The same will apply around face masks. I am very open to taking another look at whether it is necessary to push further. We will keep under review whether it needs a statutory basis for things other than public transport which we have gone with. If the Deputy wishes to sit down with me or the officials, or send in ideas for what he would like to see, I ask him to do so. I would be happy to engage with him on it. I agree that we have to get the message out there that face coverings are one important part of our arsenal in fighting this awful disease.

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