Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy English, for coming in to take this Topical Issue debate. I wish to raise the issue of non-essential work and the Government's lack of strict, clear and proper instructions to employers. Each day, I have people contacting me about being forced to work onsite in an office or warehouse although we are in a critical stage of the pandemic and their work cannot logically or practically be deemed essential. I looked at the traffic when I was driving here this afternoon. It is clear that there are too many people working onsite in Dublin in offices or wherever and there are too many people out on our roads.

A constituent was sent to do repair work at a house where all the family had Covid-19, despite the family alerting the man's employer that there was Covid-19 in the house and that he should not come near it. Can the Minister of State imagine being sent to a house where there was Covid and where this fact had been relayed to the employer? I am sure the employer did not do it on purpose or knowingly risk the life of the employee, but it is certainly risk-taking. I am sure it was a mistake but it could have ended up with the man catching covid. I hope the people in that home are okay.

Other constituents are worried about the retail and warehousing that cannot and should not be considered essential during a pandemic. A lampshade, a cushion or a lick of paint are not essential when we are dealing with a virus that is out of control.

In a pandemic, browsers in non-essential shops are risk-taking. I do not blame them really because they are following the rules. They are not breaking the rules by going to shops that are open. No staff member in these stores should be exposed to this risky behaviour, especially when masks and distancing are not rigorously enforced.

A constituent who contacted me previously got on to me again yesterday morning to say that an auxiliary worker had tested positive for the virus after working an eight-hour shift without telling the organisation that the worker was going for a test. This resulted in colleagues being isolated while already at the mercy of exposure to coronavirus. This constituent was also worried about exposure of customers in the shop.

Another constituent encountered a first closed building site this week. The person had been going around to different sites and they had all been open. Today was the first day the person came to a building site that was closed. The person had been sent to block wall stage after block wall stage of buildings that are nowhere near completion and where use of masks and distancing are not being enforced. The man believes he is taking his life and the lives of his family in his hands every day. The man has a child who is immunocompromised and he is extremely worried about this. For what and for whom is this?

I have written to the Minister for Health and the Tánaiste. I got a response from the Minister for Health today. He says that at level 5 all non-essential retail and all non-essential services must remain closed. Yet, we all know that is not the case.

The health of our economy depends on the health of our public and workers. What will the Minister of State do to prevent this unnecessary risk to our workers and customers in the workplace?

The cases remain stubbornly high. The figures were released today. We have a further 1,466 new cases. That is a slight increase on yesterday. The UK variant is now in 63% of samples. It is easily transmissible. We really have to enforce it. This lockdown is not as harsh as the first lockdown, but it should be far harsher with the extremes of this virus.

See this speech in context