Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I find myself with a little extra time, which is always enjoyable. I will focus on the issue of emergency powers and the right to protest. If I have time, and I probably do, I will make some points about mandatory hotel quarantine.

When these powers were introduced last year I spoke out against them. I made the point that in a capitalist society the State would use these powers to curb the right to protest, and that has proven correct. Taxi drivers who planned to protest in Dublin were threatened with fines of €2,000, with potentially heavier sanctions for the organisers. This was despite the fact that the drivers did not plan to congregate in person, but to stay in their vehicles. When Black Lives Matter protested in the capital last June, stewards were questioned by gardaí and had their names taken. The threat of potential prosecution was widely advertised by the Garda in the media. In the middle of last March, gardaí intervened at the socially distanced Sarah Everard solidarity protest in O'Connell Street organised by the socialist feminist group ROSA, took the names of organisers and attendees and subsequently issued fines. Workers at Debenhams in Henry Street, Dublin, and in Patrick Street, Cork, conducting an official strike against their employer and organising disciplined, socially distant protests had their names taken by gardaí under the regulations. Workers in Henry Street were told by the officer in charge that their protest was not essential.

The culture of repression facilitated by the Covid-19 emergency laws segued into the drastic actions taken by gardaí in enforcing a court injunction against Debenhams workers. Over the course of 50 days in the months of April and May, more than 300 gardaí, by my estimate, were mobilised in Limerick, Waterford, Tralee and Dublin to physically remove pickets and their supporters from blocking the entrances to stores when strike-breakers wanted to gain access to the buildings. These actions represented an unprecedented level of Garda intervention into an industrial dispute in recent years in this country. All this has served to have a general chilling effect on protest, as was clearly intended in the first place.

Young people are reporting increased levels of Garda harassment. More than half of all fines issued under the emergency laws have been issued to young people between the ages of 18 years and 25 years. The Policing Authority recently reported that student groups are now saying that policing in this State is "intimidating" and "negative". That is little wonder given that the Garda Commissioner, Mr. Drew Harris, said he made no apologies for what he described as "aggressive" policing measures in respect of student gatherings - so much for gradual escalation and consent based policing.

I opposed the mandatory hotel quarantine regime when it was debated in the Dáil in February. Of course, there is a need for comprehensive and far-reaching measures to prevent the virus, including virus variants, coming into this State, but mandatory hotel quarantine is a disproportionate response. I will address that issue in greater detail in the debate on it tomorrow.

In conclusion, we are not out of the woods yet with this virus. There is still a need for great vigilance. The discipline of the general population has been key to combating the virus. That discipline must be maintained through hand washing, wearing masks, social distancing and the other measures we know so well at this stage. Indoor environments clearly pose a significantly greater risk, and pressure to prematurely reopen indoor dining and drinking in restaurants and pubs should be resisted. However, there is enough legislation to deal with that issue. The general emergency laws should not be renewed at this point and they certainly should not be renewed in such a way that they carry over into next year. To be clear, I am not just saying in that instance they should not be renewed, full stop. Repression must not be part of the new normal.

The civil liberties of the people need to be guarded and protected. This legislation should not be renewed.

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