Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that the Deputy did not make that assertion but other people have made it and I wish to make it clear that is not the agenda of the Government. The purpose of all of these restrictions, and they have been very challenging for people, is to get to a stage where we can open up, where we can get the level of cases down so low that we can return to religious worship safely, for everybody's sake. Next week, we will be making an announcement in terms of what we can do. That will depend on the public health advice that we will receive but also decision-making in terms of what we believe to be the correct thing to do. We have said we will look at religious services in our announcement next week for the month of May. We will be doing that. We understand fully that there are many people across the country for whom attending religious service is key. It is key to their spirituality, well-being and faith. We understand that fully and we understand that people dearly want to return to that and to have those opportunities. As I stated, the purpose of the restrictions is to enable that to happen. We have learned many lessons throughout the pandemic. We have made good progress. The people have responded very well and the numbers have come down.

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