Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this opportunity to make a statement on Covid-19. The health of our nation is paramount. We have taken these measures out of necessity to protect the health of our citizens. We are facing into the bank holiday weekend. A couple of weeks ago, I suggested continuing with summer time this winter due to the scenario we find ourselves in. Unfortunately winter time will begin this weekend. That will have an impact. The Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and older people, Deputy Mary Butler, is doing a very good job in that area. However, the evenings will soon get dark at 4.30 p.m. That will bring its own significant challenges. It would have been common sense to continue with summer time and enjoy a significant stretch of light in the evenings that much sooner in February and March. That would have been of great benefit to mental health.

I would like to make a couple of points about the restrictions and what needs to be done to make them fair. First, I would like to discuss large retail outlets. During the previous lockdown, large retail outlets were open to sell essential goods. They operated their stores as normal, selling clothing, toys and other goods. We are now entering the festive season, when toys are big sellers. It is essential that retail outlets on the high streets of towns and cities throughout the country have a level playing field. The regulations signed yesterday clearly state that large retail outlets can only be open for essential items. That must be enforced. I do not say this to be a spoilsport, but to ensure fairness. If a shop on the high street that specialises in sports goods or toys cannot trade, it is only fair that large retail outlets are treated the same way. The regulations are in place. It is essential that they be enforced to ensure fair play. When we hopefully emerge from these restrictions on 1 December, the lift in retail spending will benefit all retailers alike. There will be pent-up demand and every retailer will benefit accordingly.

The second point I want to make is about a sporting issue, namely, coursing. It is a rural pastime that is hugely important in my part of the country. The season is a very narrow window of only three and a half months. Those who partake have now been told that coursing will be prohibited for six weeks of that season by Covid-19 restrictions. I received numerous calls yesterday from people involved in the industry. It is a leisure industry and does not involve significant money. People do it for the love of the sport. They cannot comprehend the fact that other sports, particularly greyhound racing, have been allowed to continue. It is hard to understand why one activity involving greyhounds is allowed to continue while another, which takes place in the open air, is prohibited. Like other Deputies, I lobbied intensively for a bit of common sense to prevail yesterday. The regulations should be interpreted to allow various greyhound activities. Unfortunately, that interpretation has not been adopted and coursing is to be halted for the next six weeks. Last year, people had serious difficulties obtaining their licences for this sport. Yesterday I was asked if practitioners should continue to breed dogs at all if obstacles will always be put in their way. They feel they are being unfairly discriminated against. They feel that their open air sport could have been treated similarly to horse racing and greyhound racing. This restriction is going down very badly in rural Ireland. Coursing is a minority sport, but it is hugely important for those involved in it.

I have also received a large volume of calls about gyms. Many people have signed petitions saying that gyms should be open. These are not used by elite athletes by any means. They are people who use the gym before going to work in the morning, or retired people who use it to maintain their physical well-being. It has a huge effect on mental health. Yesterday I received calls from two employers with significant numbers of young employees. The vast majority of these workers go to the gym before coming to work two or three mornings each week. One employer said his productivity would suffer. People need this physical exercise, especially people of a certain age. They will leave work in the dark. They need the outlet that gyms offer. Gyms were operating well under level 3 restrictions. There have been no reports of Covid-19 clusters coming from them. I appeal to the Government to consider what we have introduced and consider what can be safely amended. Some of the restrictions should be altered to ensure that people out there will be able to feel good. They are worried about the effect of the restrictions on their mental and physical well-being. Some common sense would help to get public buy-in for the level 5 restrictions.

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