Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I also want to focus on the issue of mandatory quarantine. Anybody who watched the RTÉ documentary last night about our public health workers would have been struck by the superhuman sacrifices they have made. Then we wake up this morning and listen to the Minister and other Government Ministers talking about what needs to be done. The utter disconnect between what we witnessed on the documentary last night and the reckless behaviour of the Government is quite shocking. Last week, the Taoiseach spoke of his regrets about opening up the economy in December; a decision that led to the horrific impact of what we saw last night. However, for all those regrets, there is now a refusal by the Government to prepare and implement what is necessary, namely, a mandatory quarantine policy for people travelling to this country. It is incomprehensible and none of the Government's arguments stack up. The arguments on the technical difficulties, the Border and the civil liberties concerns do not stack up. The key argument that the Government has against implementing a zero Covid policy is the question of mandatory quarantine. The failure is not technical. It is political. It is not driven by the interests of public health. It is driven by economic interests and the interests of those who lobby the Government the hardest.

Yet again, there is talk of opening up the economy, resuming construction, ending restrictions and opening up the schools. For many people, the prospect is terrifying. The Government might see light at the end of the tunnel but most people see another lockdown at the end of the tunnel. It could possibly be in April or May. People see that as being inevitable. The public is way ahead of the Government yet again. The latest RED C poll has shown that 86% of the public is in favour of a tougher, Australian-style mandatory quarantining system for all international arrivals into this country. Yet, yesterday, the Tánaiste stated on RTÉ Radio 1's "Drivetime" programme that he had looked at the possibility of adopting this approach last May and decided it was too difficult, in respect of opening up the economy and civil liberties etc. I reject that assertion. This response clearly comes from the lobbying of big business interests. The Business Postreported how the chief executive of the US Chamber of Commerce met the three most powerful people in government for special meetings. Perhaps this explains why bizarre exemptions are in place, such as the construction for foreign direct investment companies like Intel being able to continue throughout the lockdown, with thousands of workers travelling throughout the country. It has to stop. We must start treating this pandemic as a public health issue, in its entirety, rather than as a bit of this and a bit of that.

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