Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We are addressing issues that no one would like to address, namely, the extension of emergency draconian powers that in no normal circumstances would we support. The mere fact that the Dáil is meeting in a conference venue rather than our normal home in Leinster House underscores how extraordinary these times are.

The issues at the heart of the legislation have been debated and passed by the House already. The only issue at stake in this debate is that of time. I have listened to the very reasonable case put forward by our Sinn Féin colleague that an extension until next June is far too long. I am sympathetic to that view but I am also sympathetic to the view which the Minister put to yesterday's briefing to Members that we need to make all the regulations understandable to the public. That means they must all be aligned. Different termination dates for different sets of regulations will utterly confuse the public. I am minded to accept the argument that this particular set of regulations need to align with the other regulations that were agreed to last, at least in theory, until next June. None of us envisaged in September that we would be talking about restrictions of this nature going on until June of next year, and hopefully they will not have to. The Minister might reiterate in her concluding comments that if things improve remarkably, and please God they will, early next year and there is a vaccine and we have suppressed the virus, that all this will lapse as soon as it is prudent to do so and there is no requirement to stick to any arbitrary date but that the measures will be taken off the Statute Book and out of functionality.

We are all pleased to see today's Covid figures in the sense that the R rate of infection is now below 1 again. Hopefully that is the sign of a trend that will continue, though we must continue to be vigilant.

There is a certain irony that all the premises that will be directly affected by this set of measures are currently shut. There will be no impact on them unless someone is running a shebeen completely unlawfully and need to be acted against. During this debate we must mention the plight of the publicans who are really on their knees, and beyond that. We must be mindful of that when we enact these sorts of measures. We must not only reach out to them but make it crystal clear that we understand their position and are willing to provide State supports for them to survive this unprecedented time. I hope the Minister will mention that in her final comments.

I will conclude on yesterday's briefing and the views of An Garda Síochána. We were told by the Minister's officials that An Garda Síochána is happy with these provisions and supports their extension. There was some doubt over whether there was general support for the extension of difficult measures but I think there is support for these measures. The running of licensed premises is something for which we need more than the carrot of exhortation. Obviously the prime purpose is to change behaviour and it is interesting to not that no place has been closed on foot of these measures. Part of the confidence we are giving to the Minister might be reciprocated by giving us very regular updates on the operation of all these measures, rather than waiting until we put down parliamentary questions, in order that we know their impact. I ask her to give Members the firm assurance that these powers will be removed from the Statute Book as soon as they are no longer necessary.

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