Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to address this vital and important Bill. I congratulate Deputy James Browne on his appointment as Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality.

There is no doubt that the restrictions of the past few months have required great sacrifice that ultimately resulted in the saving of thousands of lives. The Bill before us provides An Garda Síochána with additional enforcement powers to ensure that bars and restaurants adhere to the guidelines. It is a necessary tool to have in our arsenal to support these restrictions. It will allow the Garda to bring establishments that are flouting the rules into compliance with the regulations to keep all of us safe.

The Garda has been outstanding in its response to this pandemic. Every day we stayed at home to protect ourselves and our families, gardaí were risking their health and safety to protect ours. They have been putting themselves at risk every day that we stayed at home in order to keep us safe. We cannot lose sight of this sacrifice that so many people made for our safety. In light of these sacrifices gardaí must be equipped with the tools to deal with the situation with which they are faced and these regulations give them those tools.

In Ireland we are proud of our tradition of policing by consent. The regulations being introduced are wholly in line with this. Gardaí will engage, educate and encourage business owners to come into compliance with the rules and only as a last resort will these emergency regulations be used. Pubs issued with closure orders will be able to appeal decisions if they believe they have not flouted the rules. I do not imagine that these rules will be used frequently, if ever. I am certain that the vast majority of business owners are responsible and will not allow their businesses to break the regulations and that where a breach of the rules is identified, they will co-operate with the Garda and so closures will not be required. Where this is not the case, the regulations will come into force. These powers are not being introduced to stop anyone from enjoying themselves or to prevent people meeting up with their family and friends, a privilege denied to so many in recent weeks. The main purpose of these rules is to allow socialising and evenings out but in a manner that is safe and allows businesses to continue to recover and exit what has been an extremely difficult period.

Additionally, we must also be aware of our surroundings. If we find ourselves in a situation where we do not feel that there are adequate safety measures in place we should leave and go somewhere else. I am sure that over the last few weeks we have all had that opportunity. Perhaps we have been allowed remain in a place for a little longer than permitted or we noted a waitress had removed her face mask or others were not adhering to the rules as we understand them. Ultimately, the responsibility lies with us as patrons. If in doubt, head out. We must keep all of these issues at the fore of our discussions. We would all like to see the reopening of every pub. Publicans have suffered greatly from these restrictions and we do not want to see them remain closed for longer than is absolutely necessary. I refer in this regard to publicans not only in rural Ireland but across this country, including in my home constituency of Dublin-Rathdown. I hope that these rules will encourage all publicans to adhere strictly to the regulations which will support the reopening of all pubs when it is safe to do so. Public health must be paramount.

The regulations being introduced are a reasonable and proportional response to the situation at hand. They not only will keep customers safe but also staff who deserve a safe working environment. It is important to point out that these regulations are temporary. They are due to expire on 9 November unless we, the Oireachtas and elected representatives, agree to extend them. The more businesses that adhere to these restrictions the less likely they will need to be extended. There is a chance for all of us to keep playing our part in the fight against Covid-19.

As our economy reopens it is easy to forget the threat this virus poses to our society. However, the virus is no weaker today than it was in March. Covid-19 can do just as much damage to our health, businesses, economy and society now as it could then. We must be vigilant in our fight against Covid-19 and supporting these enforcement powers is one way to do so. Ireland has done great work in suppressing the virus. Currently, we are seeing a rise in cases, as are many other European countries. We do not want to undo all of our hard work and sacrifices from the spring. We do not want to find ourselves in the position of having to take steps backwards in our roadmap. We all must look to previous examples be it in Germany, South Korea or Hong Kong where reopening was followed by spikes in crowded areas such as nightclubs, bars, restaurants and the environments around them. We have to make sure there are enforcement powers in place to ensure these spikes cannot come into play. We also have to ensure that as a country we learn from the examples set by other countries. The stronger the adherence to these restrictions the less likelihood there will be for a backwards move. We must play our part in ensuring that schools and colleges remain open and that businesses remain open or are allowed to reopen in due course. It goes without saying that we would all love our lives to return to normal, for all businesses to reopen and for schools to remain open. However, we cannot ignore the circumstances we are in. We have to adjust. Just because we are sick of this virus and tired of the restrictions and the pandemic does not mean that the virus is tired. We need to be as alert now as we have been over recent months. Through supporting and adhering to the guidelines we can allow some sense of normality to return to our lives. We can go for that dinner or drink, with food for the moment, go shopping and travel the country.

Maybe sooner rather than later we will be able to travel to other countries. Let us get our own country in order first. Let us not forget the sacrifices that were made to allow us to get to this point. We must do everything we can to maintain the progress we have made. These are extremely difficult powers which I have no doubt the Minister does not feel any joy in bringing to the House. I know from speaking to many members of An Garda Síochána on a daily basis in my own community and across the country that they never want to have to use these powers. However, they need them as a temporary measure to allow us to smoothly work through this. I go back to a central point that I made in my earlier remarks. The responsibility lies first and foremost not necessarily with the business owners or the politicians but with every single individual in the State. We cannot slip back to normal or take things for granted. I am a politician but I have not shaken a hand in more than six months. It is not necessarily a natural thing for any of us but it is vitally important that we take leadership and ownership because it is that duty of care and self-responsibility that will continue to allow us to progress steadily out of these situations.

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