Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

All workers who can work from home should do so and all employers should facilitate that. That is Government policy and has been the Government message to the employer representative bodies. Only essential workers should have to leave their homes and the overwhelming message is for people to stay at home unless they are engaged in essential services.

I did not ever hear the CMO say that zero-Covid would be politically impossible and it would be wrong to infer that he was taking a political position on this. He said very clearly, and repeatedly, that the practicality of going to a zero-Covid strategy was something that he could not see. That has been the consistent position for quite some time, if not since the onset of the pandemic.

People are adhering to this lockdown but the Deputy makes a very important point. Irrespective of what restrictions are in place, whether on households or particular sectors, adherence to the guidelines is key. There were many superspreader events that had nothing at all to do with hospitality, although hospitality had a few too, no question. There is a need for all of us to adhere to the guidelines. Thankfully people are doing so and the numbers are coming down but with the UK variant, the issue will be how low they can fall. That can only happen if all of us, individually and collectively, work to get the numbers down by adhering to the guidance issued and the regulations that are in place.

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