Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Making sure the State provides quarantine facilities and takes a proactive role in ensuring people entering the State can be quarantined effectively and safely will go a long way to help fight this virus. Common sense would dictate that. However, this Bill is a year late. NPHET recommended quarantine nine months ago and here we are, nine months later, with a Bill that does not go anywhere near far enough. It is mind-boggling that for almost a year, in some form or other, people in this State have endured severe restrictions on their movements, while the Government has operated an open-door policy on travel. This Government has allowed new variants into the State and we can clearly see already the effect of the British variant, in terms of how quickly it spreads and how difficult it has been this time around to get the case numbers down. A few days ago, we learned that the Brazilian variant has been found here.

People are at the end of their tether. It is fair to say that most of the population is in crisis. People have been stuck within their 5 km range for two months now with no end in sight. They have endured restrictions beyond anything anyone could have imagined. Schools are closed, people are out of work, businesses are failing, people are losing their homes, others are not able to visit family or friends and are missing out on funerals, birthdays and weddings. All of these things are affected. The Government's decision not to address travel has had devastating effects. People have become sick and others have died. The decision not to take a proactive role and have everyone arriving here quarantined and tested to ensure they are not carrying or spreading diseases is one of the biggest mistakes made during this entire pandemic. People have worked very hard in the last year to do their bit and fight this virus, so it has been a kick in the teeth that basic arrangements for travel and hotel quarantine have not been introduced until now.

The lack of leadership from this Government is shocking. It is sickening for people to see Ministers and Deputies leaking sensitive and important information and constantly trying to get one up on each other, rather than communicating clearly with the public. Everyone understands that this is an incredibly difficult situation but the Government's dreadful communication strategy adds insult to injury.

This Bill is yet another half-baked measure. Anyone travelling to this island for non-essential reasons needs to undergo mandatory quarantine. At what stage will the Government wake up to this? The Government says it want this to be the last lockdown, as we all do, but if it does not take action and introduce these measures, it may well be the case that this is not the last lockdown. It is time the Minister and the Government got their act together and introduced mandatory quarantine and testing for all non-essential travel to this island.

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