Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to get the opportunity to say a few words. Even though the time is short, I am grateful for it.

I have to say to the members of the Labour Party that they must realise that the longer businesses are shut and the longer the doors are closed, the harder it will be to get these people's businesses back open again. It is far easier to shut places down and to keep them locked down. It is much harder to open them up. As a business person who has employed people, I know the value of business to the working person. Businesses are about giving employment to people. If the businesses are shut and SMEs are closed, locked down and locked down further, there is less of a chance of them opening back up again.

On the talk about the schools certainly not opening before St. Patrick's Day, I would hope that the schools would open before then and maybe a long time before then.

Labour has to consider what the lockdown is doing to people's minds. I refer to people in rural places who are locked down and cannot come out and have a short conversation with anyone. Members of the Labour Party do not realise that because they are far removed from what is going on in rural areas. Mental health is a big issue.

For instance, people trying to build their own house or who are trying to get in a carpenter or a plumber to do work to finish off a house are stopped from doing so at present.

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