Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have a few points prepared on the implications of level 5 and the role the State has to play if we expect our citizens and businesses to take the hit and observe the restrictions. Our approach is unbalanced. Today we introduced draconian legislation under which we will impose fines and jail sentences if ordinary citizens do not comply. I did vote for it but begrudgingly.

However, the State does not always keep its side of the bargain. We expect ordinary citizens to do it, but the obligations of the State and its various agencies are often not properly or fully discharged. Sometimes they are not discharged at all.

We have seen the debacle of the tracing system. I will not go into the matter because we have heard many Deputies speak of it today. Instead of putting a robust and accountable tracing system in place, we outsourced it to an agency offering zero-hour contracts. We received a report from the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response on our nursing homes and we believed that this time we would support them. We have enough personal protective equipment, PPE, and we have a testing regime, but we have no system to support individual nursing homes.

I am sorry that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, had to leave. He is obviously very busy. I wanted to bring to his attention an issue that I know Deputy Fitzmaurice will also raise. I refer to a Central Bank report stating that the western counties have been hit harder by Covid-19. It finds that counties in the west and along the Atlantic economic corridor suffered a greater initial employment shock when Covid-19 restrictions were introduced this year. The report states that Clare, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo took a greater hit because they rely more on small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs. The adverse impact on jobs was not surprising, with greater numbers availing of the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment. The report also found that the same regional variations have emerged on the reintroduction of fresh restrictions. As a result, the Central Bank has concluded that policies to support firms and household incomes will be essential for western counties as long as theses restrictions remain. It is a pity the Minster is gone, but I know this will be relayed to him. We have evidence that Covid-19 is impacting different regions differently. According to the Central Bank, that region will take a greater hit than the rest of the country unless a package of measures is put in place to support households and businesses. This is evident already.

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