John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

When I look at the legislation before us and consider the action we have to take, I am reminded of the idea of the lesser evil being for the greater good. I find it difficult to accept some of what has happened since the beginning of the Covid crisis. I take the opportunity to thank the workers on the front line and others who gave over their usual and way beyond what was expected of them to treat patients and make the regulations work. I am thinking of gardaí, doctors, nurses and all the people who have helped during a very precarious time.

It is hard to plan for something like Covid because we do not know what will happen next. We do not know what variant is around the corner or where the next outbreak might be. All we can do is put our best foot forward and do so with a certain degree of humanity and compassion. An understanding of the general public, what people want and what they have put up with since the start of the Covid crisis, must form part of our consideration. During the period of lockdown, a huge amount of damage has been done to the economy and society. It will be a long time, how long we do not know, before we see some sort of rebuilding of the economy, society and even of families.

I will reluctantly go along with the legislation before us because we are now midstream and it is very difficult to comprehend what might be needed in three or four months' time. However, members of the public are telling me that they want to see an end to these draconian measures. They want to see us coming out and do not want to see a rolling lockdown or a rolling implementation of the measures. I ask the Minister to consider responding to that and to give a clear message to the public, who are deeply concerned. In our response to Covid on the economic front, while we gave great supports to the main part of the economy, sectors were left out and I have mentioned those who were over 66 years of age to the Minister previously, as well as other sectors. The Government made very little effort to reach out to them and to bring them with it and I am shocked by that. It is not good enough that the majority would be helped. It is an effort on the side of the Government to ensure everyone who is being affected is helped.

I have continually referred to the mental health issues that are now falling out of families who were never affected previously, as well as in respect of those who had been affected previously but whose situation has now worsened and who cannot get appointments. I also tabled parliamentary questions on this issue during the week. I have asked the Minister to consider the private sector, those who are giving counselling services and so on but that was met with a resounding "No" from the HSE. It is the same for a family that is planning for someone to go to America for college or Erasmus purposes. This is, again, a question I put to the Minister recently and the answer I got was so disrespectful to the Parliament it was hard to credit. It more or less gave me the two fingers and told me where to go. However, that family or families that I was representing had a right to know and the Minister should have responded differently. He should have responded with the information that family was seeking. Even if the answer was "No", it would have been far better to consider their position and to give that answer straight and fair. What about those people who must travel to America for college or courses and who are trying to book their flights and accommodation? The Minister and the Government show no understanding of it. Therefore, my appeal to the Minister is to deal with the simple things as well. He should deal with the issues that are emerging and the simple questions that are being asked and should stop the mixed messaging that has gone on over the past while.

People are simply asking for information. The aviation sector is just asking for information and there seems to be no definite plan we can explain to it. I asked again about people in the retail sector and there is no understanding about what they must do to accommodate the holding of stock and the reopening of such enterprises. There is only a general response to the sector. Therefore, in the course of the next few months, when we are encouraging people to open, I want the Minister to be really specific and have really clear language in terms of the information he gives out. I agree with previous speakers that this thing of an hour and five minutes and some of the other regulations currently being spoken about are absolutely farcical. They will do nothing for the businesses the Minister is engaging with, nothing to do with the sector he is engaging with. It gives them hope and then the Minister takes away 90% of that hope. Please understand that a business cannot just reopen and a society cannot just reopen. It must be done sensibly, with sympathy and with financial supports. I ask that whenever a Member of this House asks for information, he or she should get it, regardless of party membership. This is because when Members are asking for information, they do so for someone in their community who is in trouble.

I place on record my thanks to Taiwan for making available a huge amount of personal protective equipment, PPE, for the various community and nursing homes throughout the country.

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