Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I do not make accusations lightly but the Minister has just misled the Dáil, just as he has been misleading the public. Under a heading that mentions general advice to avoid non-essential travel the website states, "In accordance with Government policy, which is based on official public health advice, the Department of Foreign Affairs continues to advise against non-essential travel" but then it states:

as of 21 July, travel to a very limited set of locations is exempted from this advice. The security status for those locations to which non-essential travel can resume has been changed to 'normal precautions'.

It is very clear that these locations are exempted. The injunction against non-essential travel does not apply. It says it in black and white. The statutory instrument that the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has used to cut off people's pandemic universal payments refers specifically to this. It is the fault of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade that people believed it was okay to engage in non-essential travel because the Department's website said and still says that it is okay and the injunction against non-essential travel does not apply. The Government put out mixed messages and people are now getting their payments cut because of it.

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