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

I thank the Minister. The real effect of level 5 is its significant impact on the domestic economy. An overview of the effects of the restrictions on the economy's performance shows that the multinational sector has performed well. The difficulty is that when we impose level 5 on the country, we effectively close a large part of the domestic economy down. We close non-essential retail outlets, hairdressers and restaurants. It may be a difficult thing to say, but we need to be careful if pressure is put on us to go back into level 5 at some point next year. We have seen that level 3 can be very effective. It had an effect in bringing down the numbers in the last three weeks. When the Government comes under pressure to go to level 5 again, it will be perfectly legitimate for the Minister to express the concern that if we start spending significant amounts again, we may not be able to afford other services.

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