Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Obviously, we do not know where we will be at the end of this month but hopefully the trend in the numbers will continue as they are and the incidence of the disease in the country will continue to drop. One aspect the Tánaiste will have to be very careful about is that we are not overly or unnecessarily cautious when it comes to trying to lift the restrictions. People will tell him that if we lift the restrictions too much the numbers will go back up. Unfortunately, it is inevitably the case that numbers will go back up but we have to try to learn from what we have experienced over the previous lockdowns and restrictions.

It is very important to look at the supermarkets. They have been open all the time. They have not been any source of a major spread of the disease. If that type of essential retail outlet can continue to remain open without threat to the general population we need to look to see what other retail outlets, which we now regard as being non-essential, can also remain open. I ask the Tánaiste to look at that in a positive light and without too much caution.

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