Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for bringing forward this legislation. One important thing about this Bill is the context. We are still in the depths of a serious and real pandemic. We have a virus that is, despite what some people say, very real. It is very dangerous. We need to take steps to address that and to protect our public health and life in this country. We have all made sacrifices. We have all been working towards this. I have postponed my wedding as a result of this pandemic and I am sure there are many others who have made worse sacrifices than that. When we see those who are not following the rules and guidelines, it is understandable that people become angry and frustrated. The events in Clifden fuelled that and showed people that there are those who see themselves as being above the guidelines and above the law. That is not and should not be the case.

I have been getting a lot of concerned calls from constituents about pubs that are open and are in flagrant breach of guidelines. I have been talking to members of the Garda who have been doing their best in respect of these pubs and in ensuring the health and welfare of my constituents and of the population at large. In the context of the real and ongoing public health emergency and of the Garda needing the powers to do its work and to free its members to do the kind of community policing they want to do and that is needed in other parts of my constituency, this is a really positive thing. As with anything, it is about balance. Particularly with criminal justice it is about balance between supporting society and ensuring social safety, while safeguarding individual rights. We have done quite well in this Bill in that regard. I am glad that the provisions in respect of house parties in private homes have been dropped for the moment. It is a difficult and sensitive area that needs to be looked very carefully because of the potential for serious unintended consequences that could be very repressive. By not including them at this stage we are bringing balance to the legislation.

This measure and the regulations that we introduced previously both have a sunset clause. Both are time limited and have a shelf life. That is a key part. As other Deputies have sought today, I would like any extension which is possible in the law to be time limited. The most beneficial thing would be if there were a limited number of extensions instead of a situation where we risk endless extensions rolling over. That is about balance, giving the Garda the powers it needs to effectively enforce reasonable public health guidelines, while also ensuring some level of oversight and preventing overreach of strong legislation.

It is important that we start to look at how we can open all pubs. If the legislation helps us towards that, it is definitely beneficial. We need to start talking about that. Arguably, we were in a situation where we needed to improve our licensing anyway. We have a night-time economy that is hamstrung by outdated licensing legislation. We had a nightclub scene that was on its knees and struggling compared to other countries. The reality is that we needed to look at our licensing laws anyway. Now we have this new context where our night-time economy and hospitality and entertainment industries have been utterly decimated. Now is our chance to look at these licensing laws and rules for pubs, clubs and entertainment in the round and in a broader way in order that we can ensure that all of them can open safely during this Covid pandemic and that they are set up for the future when we move past this pandemic. We will then be looking to reinvigorate our hospitality, entertainment, night-time economy and all these sorts of things. I welcome the work that the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, is doing with the night-time economy task force in terms of its cultural aspects. This has to be supported by more modern licensing laws. A perfect example of this is what some of the Deputies have been talking about today. If we open more pubs, we will help to prevent overcrowding, which is a public health danger. There will be more options of places for people to go to. Before Covid, on a Friday or Saturday night in Dublin with all pubs and clubs closing at the same time, everyone was fighting for the same Nitelink buses and the same taxis. If we give people more options and are more flexible in our approach, these conflicts are less likely. If we are in a position to open more pubs safely, we will have people spread out more and will be able to have more effective social distancing. There will be less pressure on the pubs and it will help us to open everything safely. If this legislation helps us achieve that, it is definitely worth supporting.

I want to raise another issue related to this. It is about getting balance right in our criminal justice system. One of the things we have been looking at is how in our Prison Service we have had no cases of Covid within the service during the height of the pandemic, which is an achievement to be proud of. At the end of July, the Inspector of Prisons issued a report relating to cocooning of prisoners, which described 30 hours with no out-of-cell time, and deteriorating mental and physical health. Just as we have a sunset clause in this legislation, we need to ensure that anything we are doing within the prisons and other parts of the criminal justice system has that same balance and that we do not, while trying to prevent harm, cause greater harm in the long run. I have also been contacted by constituents who work as community prison link workers. They have struggled to get access to their clients because of the restrictions on prison visitors. These are vital services to prepare people to leave prison. If we do not prepare people to leave prison, we are begging for them to end up back in prison again. Supports on leaving prison are incredibly important in reducing recidivism, bringing people back into society and giving them a route back in. Some of these people are saying that prisoners are giving up their personal family phone calls to be able to call their link workers. Surely even something as simple as putting link workers on the list of approved professionals in order that prisoners can access them more regularly and easily without sacrificing contact with family would go a long way. I ask the Minister if she could look at those issues as well. I would happily provide her with details of some of these matters, which have been raised with me directly by constituents. Ultimately, it is about getting the balance right within our criminal justice system in general. The Bill helps to achieve that balance by giving the Garda extra powers that it needs to enforce the regulations.

It does so while ensuring that the sunset clauses are there, that we do not overstep the mark in dealing with house parties and that all the time we engage offer a graduated response of engagement first and then building up as we go. That is the correct approach.

See this speech in context