Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government's handling of the reopening of pubs has been a shambles from start to finish. Pub owners and vintners feel that they have been abandoned by this Government. I am not criticising public health measures. My party and I have fully supported all the public health effort to date and the hard work everyone has put in so far. The issue here is that decisions have to be taken in a fair and balanced way, and they have to address areas where the biggest risks lie.

Gardaí should have been given these powers when pubs first reopened and then all pubs would have had the opportunity or the option to reopen. A €9 pizza or a bowl of chicken wings is the only difference between a pub that serves food and a wet pub. Instead we have had months of confusion for gardaí and for publicans, and we have had wet pubs closed for a full six months. We are the only country in Europe where pubs remain closed. People are losing their businesses, not just in rural areas but all across the country.

At the time that these decisions were taken, we knew where the main risks were, but the Government chose to turn a blind eye to the dreadful situations in some meat plants and in direct provision centres. Even after authorities had been warned about possible outbreaks due to non-adherence to public health guidelines in meat plants, this Government still looked the other way. It waited until there were serious outbreaks and then decided that meat plants should be inspected, but should be given prior notice of inspection, a pointless exercise. Why would one give prior notice of inspection in the midst of a pandemic to a particular plant or factory that has full knowledge that it is in breach of public health and social distancing guidelines, and was quite prepared to put its workers health and lives at risk? It is not just the workers but the families of those workers and the general community.

The Government's lackadaisical approach to this, not acting straight away, allowed these clusters to develop. These plants are still only obliged to adhere to guidelines. The Government seems to be picking and choosing where to implement restrictions and these decisions will not address the core areas where Covid-19 should be restricted. This is eroding public confidence in public health restrictions being able to manage the virus. Public confidence is a cornerstone in fighting this and if people do not trust that the best decisions are being made, then we are all in trouble. If we have learned anything from the "golfgate" scandal, it is that there should be one rule for all. We have mere guidelines for meat plants, factories, businesses and direct provision centres but the Government is prepared to change laws only for pubs. That is not the solution. We need the same laws and powers for all businesses. Restrictions need to be fair and balanced, and most important, they need to be seen to be fair and balanced.

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