Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on rural and community affairs. We are less than two weeks away from, we hope, exiting level 5 lockdown restrictions. There are 11 hours scheduled for statements in the Dáil this week, all of which statements are on important issues. I will speak on all of the issues, but when I do, I will be speaking about Covid. We cannot discuss the issues that are facing and challenging our citizens today without talking about Covid into the future. It is disappointing that time was not scheduled this week in the Dáil to debate what may happen on 1 December for the remainder of December and for the 12 months after that. Deputies want to discuss this issue and so a debate should be scheduled.

I understand if bodies such as NPHET fear that a debate like that might undermine the public health advice. I understand that they have a responsibility to the public health, but so do we. We also have a responsibility to have a public debate on the issue. We cannot be held hostage to the fears of other groups when we should be debating what should be happening in terms of the direction for this country into the future. This is not just about Christmas, although that is important. It is about the next 12 months and maybe longer, but I hope not, in respect of which we might be facing into some form of Covid restrictions in this country. I hope we can have that debate scheduled for early next week so that Deputies can put on the record what they believe should be happening in terms of how we manage Covid into the future and the appropriateness now, given what we know of the pandemic and the virus since the first phase in regard to levels 4 or 5 of the strategy, of national lockdowns versus living with the virus rather than being defeated backwards into lockdown by it every few months.

When it comes to community development, there are huge opportunities here. I know that the Minister is aware of how small amounts of money to local communities can go a very long way. People are spending more time in local communities throughout the country and, as a result, they are noticing more about their local communities and they are getting involved. People are getting active and we should be taking advantage of that to make sure we get better outcomes for every community. For example, for some people the only option they may feel they have in a Covid world is either working at home or travelling long distances into the office in Dublin. We have an opportunity now for local and regional office hub spaces where people can go and work instead of having to travel all the way to the city centre.

We have a chance now for great village improvement schemes to be done with the consent and involvement of more people in those communities, if they get the funding. There are opportunities for enhancing the public realm and public spaces. In this city, we have private parks that are not public but they are in very public locations, both in the city centre and in our suburbs. Should those parks really remain as private parks? Should we be looking to use our community spaces to the best advantage of as many people as possible? We should be funding arts activities, local activities, local theatre and all other activities that can happen in outdoor space and structural environments where people should be able to enjoy their local area in a safe way. This is the type of area that I believe funding should be going into and I support the Minister in doing that.

See this speech in context