Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

For many months, I have been calling for rapid testing at airports. I raised the issue again and again with the former Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, and the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin. I have called for rapid testing at airports to try to keep the country open. According to an article published on TheJournal.ie on Wednesday, 7 October, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, stated it would take "some time" to adopt the so-called traffic light system after it is agreed by the European Council of Ministers on 13 October. This is alarming. EU Governments must work together to safely open borders and adapt their health strategies. When that policy is approved, it should immediately be widely implemented throughout Europe so as to streamline enforcement measures, mitigate the risk of spreading Covid-19 and allow international travel within the EU in a safe and controlled environment.

A rapid test currently available on the market gives results in just 15 minutes. Some countries have tested these tests and approved them for use. This is another issue I have repeatedly raised with this Government and the previous Government, but it has apparently fallen on deaf ears. Airports can be equipped with a facility in the departure hall to test passengers before they proceed to check-in desks or security. In the 15 minutes it takes to get a result, a temperature check and a track and trace questionnaire could be completed before the passenger leaves the facility. If this procedure is advertised at the time of booking and the cost of the test is included in the ticket price, it would be a clever way to make people aware that they must stay at home if they show symptoms. In addition, it would instil confidence in people that air travel has been made safer. More and more educated people, professionals and experts, will migrate to other countries, which will deprive Ireland of knowledgeable and skilled workers with Brexit looming. Ireland will be even more isolated from the rest of Europe and will soon be an outlier and an exception in the EU. We do not want that to happen. Solutions have been readily available for some time and can be implemented in days. Putting them in place only requires a bit of vision and goodwill. We cannot afford to discuss this any longer. Actions need to be taken immediately.

I refer to the level of lockdown that was forced on businesses in the space of days. I have my own thoughts about this fiasco. In my view, the recommendation to go to level 5 was leaked so that when the level 3 restrictions were announced by the Government they would be accepted. What is the Government doing? It sounds like it is codding genuine people whose businesses are simply going under. Staff in pubs, cafés, restaurants and hotels, some of which had just reopened, are losing their jobs. The businesses were again closed nearly two weeks to the day after their reopening. Bars received bills for television licences, insurance and rates but they had been forced to close their doors. Bars, restaurants and coffee shops are now being forced to close again. Many of them will disappear. What advice would the Minister give to business people who phone him in the early hours of the morning to tell him they cannot afford to pay any of their bills, never mind their mortgages? The banks have put two fingers up to the Government and will not continue the moratorium. Covid-19 is killing people who have never contracted the disease. NPHET needs to be disbanded and reformed, with a wider variety of specialised people appointed to it in order that it understands every walk of life. All Members know the virus can be a killer if contracted, but what NPHET and the Government do not understand is that Covid-19 is killing more people who have not contracted it than people who die from it directly.

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