James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to speak on and support this Bill, which extends the sunset clause in respect of enforcement powers. It is important that these powers exist and that An Garda Síochána, other law enforcement authorities and the emergency services have the options they may require.

The concept of a sunset clause struck me in the early days of the pandemic when the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020 came before the Houses. We were in those early days of trepidation, fear, uncertainty and doubt as to what we were about to face. We did not expect it to still be with us at this point, six, seven or eight months on. It struck me that this concept was missing from the first draft of that Bill in March. I contacted my party leader, now Taoiseach, to raise the matter that night. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties was discussing it the next day. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, a number of other Deputies and I tabled amendments to introduce such a clause.

The relevant provision was introduced, which was very important because all citizens in this society enjoy certain rights under the Constitution. Those rights include freedom of movement, freedom of association and other rights that allow us freedom and liberty in normal circumstances. All rights are proportionate, however. No right is absolute. The greater good must always be weighed against individual rights. The greater good of public health, which includes the right to life, health, well-being and a functioning society which is not overrun by a pandemic, can at times legitimately encroach on those other individual rights. It is a balancing act the Government has to manage in legislation while respecting the Constitution. I believe it has done so but it is important that a sunset clause was, correctly, introduced in the legislation to recognise that while these measures are quite severe and draconian and involve restrictions on some individual liberties, they are there for a reason and that they will be revisited rather than becoming the norm by default, which would be wrong. As I have said, that was introduced at the time and carried over.

We probably thought the pandemic might be gone, defeated or have dissipated by this stage. We may have thought that we would have acquired herd immunity or that a vaccine would have been available. There might have been a certain naivety, hope or expectation in those early days in spring. Many people thought this would have been behind us by the summer. Unfortunately, that was not to be the case and the pandemic is still ongoing. Again, it makes sense that the provisions enacted to manage or mitigate it and the powers given to law enforcement authorities, and An Garda Síochána in particular, be continued, maintained and carried over. We are now talking about extending these powers again and that makes sense. June 2021 seems a reasonable time to revisit it. It is six months from now. I have just listened to the end of Deputy Catherine Murphy's contribution. She always makes solid contributions and I listened with interest to her closing words. I believe she mentioned February. I am concerned that we would again be having this debate in February and, perhaps, in March, in April and so on. Let us give it time to bed down. Let us give it the seven months and let the provisions run into June 2021. That seems to be a reasonable time to take stock.

I have a couple of other points to make about this issue as a whole. We have been through the mill across the country and we are now at level 5. Kildare went through its own hard lockdown in August at a time when the rest of the country was beginning to enjoy more freedom of movement. In fact, many people were taking staycations in August at the time when Kildare went back into lockdown. Along with Laois and Offaly, Kildare was among the first counties to experience that second wave. Of course, it has since multiplied and the whole country is now at level 5. We learned a great deal from that, however. Paradoxically, one of the things we learned is that we need both the carrot and stick. If we are to enforce more stringent rules and ask people to stay at home, stay within their counties or stay within 5 km of home, the iron fist in the velvet glove is sometimes needed. Asking people nicely to do things does not always work. I found myself in many debates on local radio and in other media explaining that gardaí did not have powers of enforcement during the Kildare lockdown. I was explaining the tradition of policing by consent in this country. Part of the reason we have a largely unarmed police force is that it is the force of the people rather than the force of the establishment that matters. That is our tradition of policing on this island.

That did not necessarily work in all situations however. Unfortunately, a small minority of people threw two fingers up to the rest and say that, because they could, they would. They did not respect the gardaí on the ground, their fellow citizens or their neighbours and friends. A small few breached the rules and it was those who did that tended to make a song and dance about it. They almost revelled in the fact that they could. People threw statutory instruments at me on social media as if to say they could do what we liked because no enforcement powers were in place. Unfortunately, there are always a few who ruin things for the rest. Having said that, the vast majority of people across the country, and certainly in Kildare, have been absolutely outstanding in their commitment to beating this pandemic and to voluntarily observing the measures required to do so.

It is also important to give people information. The most important thing in any controversy or crisis is that people are informed. People are intelligent and tuned in. They have a strong conscience and will do the right thing once they understand what that entails. That is why it is so important that we run public information campaigns, as we are doing, so that people can understand how the virus is transmitted. It is now very well understood. When there is a second or third wave or when different events occur, it is important that people understand. They need to know whether it is spreading by community transmission and where the virus is transmitted. They need to know how it works and they can then make their own informed choices. On the one hand, we tell them what they should do, what the Government wants them to do while and, at times, what the law requires them to do but, on the other, we tell them why and explain the logic behind it. We tell them why they will be safer if they do certain things and why it is not safe to have a party at a neighbour's house and why it is not okay to gather in large groups without social distancing. We tell them that, because of how the virus is transmitted, certain measures should be taken.

With regard to pubs and the measures we are talking about here, these measures are obviously not mandatory. Even when we get out of level 5 and begin to edge towards normality in the early new year or even over Christmas, there will be no requirement for the powers to be used immediately or for a crackdown. The powers are there to deal with the exceptional cases of people who will not comply or adhere to the rules voluntarily and who unfortunately need that extra sanction to be brought to bear. During the Kildare lockdown, I worked night and day with multiple businesses to try to get them support packages, to get them over the line and to keep them viable and afloat. The small number of businesses who tried to go against the tide, to trade in the face of the restrictions and to get one over on their neighbouring competing businesses by disobeying the rules again really threw up two fingers. It is not a good attitude. That is a reminder for everybody that these sanctions are important.

They are proportionate and come as part of a wider balancing exercise. It is eminently sensible that there be a realistic end date. I support the motion.

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