Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

We should be clear that if these amendments from various parties are not passed, and the Government has clearly stated its objections to them, then this is not a Bill for mandatory hotel quarantine, as is being reported. It is a Bill for a piece of theatre or a joke about mandatory hotel quarantine. It is a Bill to close one window in a house when the other windows and the front and back doors are open. It is a Bill to try to make the Government look good and as if it is responding to the call by 90% of people for mandatory hotel quarantine while it is actually doing something that is extremely ineffective.

We know the Government, at least initially, intends to operate on the basis of a list of 20 countries. That is a tiny percentage of countries and it is not what we need. It is not what the National Public Health Emergency Team, Rise and People Before Profit have been calling for and it is not what 90% of people support.

I will go further than that. I encourage other Members of the Opposition to read section 38E of the Bill, which is not even a step in the direction we need to be travelling. I listened to the Minister's wrap-up on Second Stage. He told Deputies not to vote against the Bill on the basis that they do not agree with the list of 20 states. He said that was a matter for a statutory instrument and the Government could add all the countries it wanted. It is true that the 20 states are not listed in this Bill. It is also true that they will be listed through a statutory instrument. However, this Bill cannot be used to do what is necessary. It cannot be used to put every state on the list, as is proposed by all of our amendments. If they are not accepted, this Bill cannot be used to have mandatory hotel quarantine for all incoming travellers. The Bill sets it up that each state must be added explicitly on a country-by-country basis. Section 38E(4) provides that the Minister shall, on a regular basis, review the situation as it relates to each state. It explicitly starts from the position that no states are on the list and we add them on a state-by-state basis. This Bill will not allow us to do what we need.

If the Government votes down our amendments, as it has stated it will, I do not believe the Opposition should go along with this piece of theatre. We should oppose it and demand that the Government come back with proper mandatory hotel quarantine, which would start from the opposite position, structurally, from the one the Government is taking. Many of the Opposition amendments come from the proposition that every country is on the list to start with. Green zones would then develop in Ireland and elsewhere, would be connected to each other and states could then be taken off the list as the position becomes clear and we develop green corridors. That cannot be done with the unamended version of the Bill.

What would proper mandatory hotel quarantine that would have an impact look like? It would be operated on a public, not-for-profit basis. It is incredible to think of the big contracts that will flow from this legislation. It is unfortunate that we will not get to the amendments which try to prevent that scenario. A proper hotel quarantine system would also include oversight of the implementation of the process, which is vital for public health and, therefore, a necessary restriction of civil liberties. There would be oversight from human rights groups, civil liberties groups and trade unionists to make sure that any powers are not abused. Without those elements, it is clear that this legislation is to be used by the Government to play at mandatory hotel quarantine and pretend it is doing it, while the Californian variant can come in as it wishes. The British variant is already rampant but if there is a new variant in Bristol, or wherever else, it can come in. Travellers can come from any other powerful county in the world without mandatory hotel quarantine.

3 o’clock

This Bill is very far from fit for purpose. It does not achieve what we need it to achieve and if the Government does not accept the amendments, I urge the other Opposition parties to join us on Fifth Stage to vote against the Bill and ask the Government to come back with a proposal for proper, mandatory hotel quarantine.

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