Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this important debate. I know Deputies on all sides of the House are concerned about some of the implications of the sorts of powers that have been taken. It is important that we scrutinise these issues and look at ways in which we can gradually return to greater normality through the legislation we enact.

There is no doubt that some of these powers are truly exceptional. They ban travel, which is a normal right of a citizen, on a widespread basis. They ban events and permit entry to a person's dwelling in certain circumstances. They provide enforcement powers that are made by regulation and not subject to the sort of scrutiny to which we are used. They change the terms on which mental health tribunals occur. Fundamental rights are at stake in such tribunals. The powers also allow for the detention and isolation of citizens. There is no doubt they are extraordinary and exceptional powers that should only occur in the most exceptional of circumstances.

Everyone realises we have been living through the most exceptional of circumstances and that powers of this nature have been needed. However, we need to start thinking about how to gradually unwind them. Every one of the powers seems to be reinstated by this legislation even though the conditions may have changed. That is why I have some misgivings. I do not know the nature of mental health tribunals being held in the environment in which we are living but I would have thought some of the powers, for example, those to proceed on the basis of remote assessment and one-person tribunals, go to the heart of how fair a process can be for an individual. While those powers may have been justified, and may continue to be justified, there is no doubt that we are moving into a period when they will be far less justified. Some of them may no longer be necessary.

It is worth bearing in mind that we have made extraordinary progress and the risks associated with the virus are changing dramatically. The 14-day incidence rate of the virus is 0.1%. In other words, 99.9% of Irish people have not tested positive for Covid over the past 14 days. Less than 1% of our hospital beds are now occupied by people with Covid-19. Half of our people have either been vaccinated or inoculated by contracting the virus over the past year. We need to start looking more forensically at these powers to distinguish which of them continue to be necessary. We must consider whether we should be starting to look at more demanding standards and thresholds to justify the continuation of those powers. Perhaps we need to consider having the exercise of some of the more intrusive powers recorded and the record kept so we can see the justification for their use. We need to include a timely review of the exercise of these powers to ensure people are not casually applying them because they are available. An insufficient level of scrutiny might allow people to slip into a lazy use of these exceptional powers.

I wonder whether we could start to look at the schedule of these powers which, as I outlined, apply across a whole range of normal activities. We could start to examine whether some of the relevant sections are no longer necessary. They have had commencement orders and in some cases, we must ask whether they should be discontinued. That is not to say they would be removed from the Statute Book but if the powers were to be recommenced, they would come back to the House and we would have the opportunity to hear from the Minister the reasons it was deemed necessary to recommence them.

I admit I do not know the ins and outs of the various areas and the challenges that exist in the holding of events, the running of mental health tribunals and the enforcement of travel restrictions. However, the situation is undoubtedly changing and we cannot continue to expect people to suspend their disbelief, if you like, and allow powers to remain without a greater level of scrutiny, evaluation and review of the continuing necessity for them.

I do not mean to suggest that I am opposed to the continuation of these powers at the moment. It is undoubtedly the case that over the course of the summer, we will need to ask people to observe restrictions and if they refuse to do so, we will need the power to require them to, on pain of some sort of penalty. However, we are a democratic House and I am conscious of the extraordinarily intrusive nature of these powers. I ask, therefore, that we put in some protections and that the Minister and his colleagues design some protections, some process of dismantling, so that we can have confidence there will be no lazy or casual application of exceptional powers just because they remain in existence.

I am acutely conscious of the difficulty of the task facing the Ministers for Health and Justice, and Ministers in other spheres who are party to some of these powers. However, I urge them to recognise that a balance must be struck in everything. There are personal, economic and social costs and impacts to the decisions that we make, even at a time when public health is under some stress.

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