Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Before I continue, I wish to refer to the comments of the previous speaker, Deputy Crowe, relating to the young girls in north County Dublin. Many of the comments he made today have been found to be untrue and misinterpreted. We have to be really careful when we are looking at things coming up on social media. We need to figure out whether these things are truthful because they are serious matters. I would like that clarified.

I will address the issue at hand today. Covid-19 has had an impact on this island like no other issue in modern Irish history. It has damaged the country. More than 1,707 people have died while tens of thousands of people have caught the disease and, thankfully, recovered.

It has also damaged the economy. For most ordinary people in our country, North and South, part of our heritage and the traditional way of getting through hard times has involved coming together, whether through the GAA club, sport or culture, but also through the traditional pubs that we have throughout the Thirty-two Counties.

We have noted the figures coming out during recent days. They are worrying, as are the numbers coming from hospitals today. Six of the acute hospitals have no capacity in their intensive care units. We must be careful about what we do and how we do it in future.

What I have been hearing from people is a lack of confidence in respect of the measures that have been put in place. People are perplexed when they see that a pub that is serving a sandwich and soup for €9 is open while another pub that is only down the road but that does not have the capacity or ability to do something like that is unable to open. The livelihoods of those involved are being affected. We must ensure we keep people on board and keep together in terms of fighting this nasty disease. What we do has to make sense.

What does this mean for today's measures? It makes sense that anyone who is breaking the law or anyone who is putting people at risk in a business such as a pub or hotel is held accountable. I reckon people can see that. It makes sense to them and they will agree with it. However, they cannot understand why these rules and regulations are applied for one particular business while another business or pub in exactly the same area that does not provide food is unable to open. We are asking for a little common sense. The Government should sit down with the industry and work out an agreement. The Government should find a way of ensuring that people's livelihoods are protected and that thousands of people who are working in these so-called "wet pubs" are able to get back to work in as safe a manner as possible.

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