Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is unfortunate we are where we are. This is a serious issue and it has been thrust upon us. We did not bring it upon ourselves and nor did all other countries across the globe. The virus is here, however, and it is raging. It has been clearly demonstrated that meetings of people, however large or small, contribute to it spreading. I do not mean people do so deliberately, but it just happens as a result of people meeting. Before the level 5 restrictions were introduced, it was obvious to some of us that serious breaches of the regulations were taking place. If the regulations had been strictly observed, it would have been possible to continue trying to defeat the virus and slow it down without any of the regulations we are discussing or any of the level 5 restrictions. Those will come up again for discussion when the impact of the level 5 restrictions is reviewed and we decide how to proceed from there.

It makes no sense to pretend at this stage that the virus will go away overnight or a vaccine will be found and it will quickly disappear thereafter. That is not going to happen. For as long as the virus is here and rampant, it will spread. Every occasion, therefore, where people come together in small or large numbers will allow that spread to take place. That is why many people throughout the country have made huge sacrifices, such as avoiding family members and not meeting others in case they spread or contract the virus.

In deference to those people who made those sacrifices, it behoves the rest of us to do what we can to also restrict, and to do so voluntarily and without the necessity of enforcement. That is the way it is. In the past three, six or seven weeks, it was obvious that there were many occasions when people refused to accept even the necessity of added restrictions. Some people do not believe there is a serious issue at all, which is sad because it is a serious issue. There are also people who have a notion of a conspiracy. There are civil libertarians who say, "No, we have a right to go where we wish and to meet with whoever we wish." That is fine but there is no sense at the same time of spending large amounts of taxpayers' money on trying to restrict the forward march of this virus.

It is unfortunate that we have to have enforcement but it is a result of necessity. I hope it will only be for the shortest time possible, hence the need for a sunset clause. I am one of those people who would not accept the nature of the restrictions we are discussing being enforced were it not for that necessity. All of us have a public health obligation to respond in time to the challenges that have presented themselves as a result of this virus.

It is unfortunate that we have to have restrictive measures of the nature proposed, but we have to have them. Hopefully, it will be for the shortest possible time and, more importantly, we hope that they are effective. If they are effective and we slow the rate of growth of the virus, and if we make it possible to come out of the restrictions before Christmas, we then have to look at the next level and what we must do from there on in. I believe that is the stage when the responsibility falls on every single citizen in Ireland to observe the restrictions in every way possible through social distancing, hand hygiene, avoiding crowds and congregations and so on. It is difficult and it is an imposition on us all. The alternative, however, is that we go back to more restrictions and try to defeat the virus that way. The voluntary route is far and away the best route, without compulsion. All it requires is the recognition of the seriousness of the threat of the virus. I believe that the sunset clause should reassure everyone who might have a concern.

See this speech in context