James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Many people will not forget 2020 for a very long time. It started out as a bright new decade, but was destroyed by this pandemic. I feel for what many business owners across the constituency of Cork East, whom I am paid to represent as a new Deputy in the House, have gone through throughout the year. I concur with some of the comments made by Deputy Cowen on the rounds of applause. Businesses in constituencies throughout the country cannot walk into a bank or Revenue and give them a round of applause. They need the support of the State in the upcoming months when we finally get through the worst part of this pandemic. I am sincerely hopeful that through the fantastic efforts made by scientists throughout the world we will have an effective vaccine in the very near future and I hope the Government can plan for that being put in place swiftly so society throughout Ireland can go back to normal as soon as possible.

However, I have to state that I have several concerns about our current strategy. It has been very difficult for many backbench Deputies who are supporting the Government throughout the past number of months to put ideas forward to NPHET and Ministers. I understand that Ministers who are working with NPHET are in a difficult position as they try to implement the best possible policy to protect our population from the spread of Covid.

I am concerned about the impact it is having on the hospitality sector and students in higher education. As I said, I am the youngest Deputy in the House. The stress and strain that has been put on students throughout the country has been enormous. In the next number of months I want the Government to state whether plans will be put in place to allow students about to enter and currently in university to plan to be able to return to college lectures and tutorials. An integrated learning system will be critical in the next six months if we are serious about allowing students a proper experience of university. So much has been taken away from them. They are in constant communication with me. A lot of them are hurting and are very angry and frustrated. They have been put in a position, through no fault of their own or the Government, of having to deal with what is in front of them. It is an enormous task for anybody, never mind somebody who is starting out in his or her life for the first time on his or her own, to have to deal with this problem and be stuck at home when he or she is supposed to be out enjoying life. I am quite conscious of that issue. It is critical. I know the Minister will do his best, as he always does, to feed that message back to the Government.

I also want to talk about the effects the pandemic is having on the hospitality sector. Over 20,000 jobs in County Cork depend on hospitality. NPHET is kidding itself if it is under the impression that people will not gather in each others homes. That is reason enough to examine the possibility of allowing people to use the services that our hotels provide, including dining and accommodation, without having too much of the burden of restrictions over the Christmas period. I am working alongside many hoteliers in my constituency and I trust them, as I trust our restaurateurs and publicans, to do the right thing over the next number of months. The Government and NPHET should do the very same.

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