Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I am here to introduce a resolution to extend the sunset clause in the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020, which is due to expire on 9 November. It is fair to say that we are living in truly unprecedented times and I do not believe it is possible to overstate how serious a threat Covid-19 continues to pose to our lives, our health and well-being, our economy and our society. To date, Ireland has recorded 53,422 cases and, sadly, 1,868 deaths. I know this House will wish to extend its sympathies to the bereaved families and friends who have lost loved ones to Covid-19 this year.

When the Government brought this legislation before the Oireachtas six months ago, we were really at the start of what has turned out to be a continuously evolving and uncertain journey. Earlier this year, we managed to flatten the curve and return to a period of relative normality but recent trends and the current disease profile are very concerning. All indicators of disease incidence and severity have continued to worsen in recent weeks. In the past week alone, there have been almost 9,000 cases and the national 14-day incidence rate now stands at 291 per 100,000. We have also seen outbreaks of Covid-19 continue to occur in the community, in hospitals, and, most worryingly, in long-term residential care settings. In response to the rapidly deteriorating epidemiological situation across the country, the Government had to make some very difficult decisions this week to protect public health by moving the entire county to level 5 for the next six weeks under the plan for living with Covid-19.

These measures are essential at this time if we are to get the reproduction number back to below one and suppress the virus. As An Taoiseach referred to in his address to the nation on Monday night, our overall objective is to suppress the virus to as low a level as possible, while allowing as much of our society and economy to operate as is possible and safe at any given point in time. While there has been progress made in terms of the development of possible vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, it is internationally accepted that Covid-19 will continue to represent a grave public health threat in the medium term. Unfortunately, this means there is still a need for public health measures of the kind that came into effect overnight and which are facilitated by this legislation.

It is worth highlighting that Ireland is not alone in this crisis. Indeed, all across Europe and much of the rest of the world, Covid-19 infections are on the rise and, increasingly, countries are having to introduce more restrictive measures in response. These measures place extraordinary limitations on our lives and livelihoods, limiting who we can meet, how far we can travel and requiring some businesses and services to close their doors. The Government does not take these decisions lightly and always seeks to balance all considerations, including public health, economic and societal considerations, to ensure measures taken are proportionate to the level of threat. Regrettably, we need to retain these measures as part of our national response. They proved essential in allowing us to suppress the virus in the first half of this year and they are essential as we do so again. Critically, they will support us in protecting our key priorities of maintaining health and social care services, keeping education and childcare services open and, above all, protecting the most vulnerable members of our communities.

Ensuring a balanced response to Covid-19 is a complex task. Since the beginning of this crisis, the dilemma facing Government has revolved around how to implement public health measures in response to the pandemic in a way that is fair, reasonable and proportionate. This is neither easy nor straightforward but I assure the House that we will continue to use these powers in a responsible way. I also assure the House that work is continuing to further develop and enhance a broader public health response, including public health capacity, our testing strategy - including the potential use of alternative diagnostic approaches - and our testing and contact tracing services. While these services are understandably under pressure progress has been made in developing capacity in recent months and more sustainable capacity continues to be added to the system, including significant recruitment in recent weeks.

While testing and contact tracing are by no means a panacea for managing this disease into the future, a robust and timely public health response to cases and clusters will continue to provide an important element of our overall response. Testing and tracing on its own is not sufficient for managing this disease and we must retain the ability to put in place a range of measures as facilitated by this legislation and targeted at limiting opportunities for virus transmission.

These laws are necessary for now and the main aim behind them is to protect people and save lives. In the spirit of proportionality, I recognise that the extension of these extraordinary measures must be temporary and I will repeal them as soon as it is safe to do so. I assure the House that the measures will be continually reviewed and assessed in light of emerging evidence.

The measures provided for under the Act are exceptional and the Government is mindful of the concerns regarding their impact on individual rights and freedoms. As the position is ever evolving and changing, we must use the option to renew them for another period. I am conscious, as I seek to extend this emergency legislation at a time of great national anxiety, that it is important to reiterate that these measures will be imposed only in exceptional circumstances. We intend to continue to deal with this public health emergency through the co-operation of our people and collaboration between all our State agencies. Nonetheless, we must continue to legislate to ensure that we have all the required powers to fight this virus. Let me reassure the House that the Government is clear that public health measures restricting individual rights must be introduced and retained only in the pursuit of legitimate public health goals, must be the least intrusive to achieve those goals, and must be of limited duration.

Our priority today must be the protection of both public health and human life, preventing the spread of the virus and working to mitigate its impact on our people. That is why I seek the extension of the sunset clause contained in the Act. I propose an extension of seven months up to the 9 June 2021 as this is in line with the timeline of the Government's medium-term strategy Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19. I ask Deputies to support the continuation of these measures.

I also wish to highlight that the Government is seeking to mitigate the impact of restrictions insofar as possible by ensuring that there are sufficient mechanisms in place for businesses and individuals to support them through this pandemic. We are improving the pandemic unemployment payment and the employment wage subsidy scheme to take account of the new restrictions. We will prioritise the roll out of new supports in mental health services and adopt the inclusion of support bubbles as part of the own household provisions. We are also taking action to enhance the effectiveness of public health measures by developing more robust and appropriate enforcement mechanisms. On Tuesday, the Government agreed to the introduction of a system of tiered penalties and I look forward to introducing the legislation in that regard in the Dáil tomorrow.

As the published figures showed last night, this virus does not discriminate based on age, gender or geographic location. We must all work together again to help slow its spread. We can do this by following the level five measures and the ongoing public health advice to all of us, including social distancing and handwashing.

I want to comment now on the level 5 measures that have been in place since midnight. We are making a pre-emptive strike against this virus. The next six weeks represent our opportunity to suppress the virus in order that we can open up for December. Our priorities of human health and human life, our health services, education, childcare and jobs are all stable. Fatalities have, however, doubled in the past two weeks on a daily basis and it is projected that they will continue to do so. Regrettably, new cases are growing exponentially and ahead of even the exponential projections we were given just two weeks ago.

In one very important way, the level 5 measures are like the measures brought in during the first wave. The very simple and important message is to stay at home. It is just like in the first wave. The message when we needed to flatten the curve was to stay at home and this is the message today also. If we are to drive the virus back down quickly and effectively, which we must do, then a core message for level 5 is for people to stay at home. Where this set of measures is different to those we lived through earlier in the year is in the provisions that accompany this. This time the healthcare services will remain open. I encourage anybody who has a healthcare appointment to please keep it and to engage with his or her GP, therapist, consultant and other healthcare professionals. It is crucial that people continue to do this.

Childcare, primary schools, second level schools and third level colleges remain open. Manufacturing and construction remain open. Critically, disability day services remain open. Sports training for school-age children remains open in its current form, namely, on a non-contact basis and in pods of up to 15.

I was very keen to see the concept of the support bubble included in these level 5 measures. This is a new measure that we did not have last time. It covers single adult households, an adult living alone or sharing custody of children, or in exceptional circumstances such as an adult living with a person who has advanced dementia, for example. The levels of isolation for those people is not something that should be seen. Those households can link up with one other household to create an extended household.

There is an eviction ban in place and there are the additional economic measures to which I referred earlier. Critically, numerous supports are in place for nursing homes, including: funding; the provision of personal protective equipment; a wide range of expert medical supports, including for geriatrics, infection prevention and control and occupational health.

The next six weeks will be difficult for everybody, for every person, every family, every community and every business. These measures and exemptions I have listed will help but, as before, for us to succeed and to flatten the curve now each of us will need to play our part and each of us will need to look out for each other over the coming weeks.

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