Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Legislation is imminent to push back phase 4 of the reopening because of the increase in the Covid-19 transmission rate or R-nought rate. This delay will affect rural pubs, as we have heard, but it will also affect sporting events, weddings and family events throughout the country. Does the Tánaiste accept that the R-nought rate in Dublin is now running at twice the level of the rate in the rest of the country? Does he agree that it is no longer appropriate to treat the country as one region and that we need, in the forthcoming legislation, to differentiate between places where there is a different R-nought rate? That is what almost every other country in the world is now doing; certainly, every country in Europe is doing it. Will the legislation to be introduced next week differentiate between Dublin, where the R-nought rate is twice as high as it is in the rest of the country, with regard to the restrictions which are proportionate and necessary?

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