Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----virus and a developing situation that required a response from the State. On balance, when we have a review, I think it will find that the State managed circumstances quite well. As I said, we may have been too slow to impose restrictions at the beginning. I suspect another criticism may be that we were too slow to lift restrictions at the end of the pandemic.

One thing we know about pandemics is that they all come to the end, and this pandemic will end as well. Fortunately, I believe we are now coming to the end of this pandemic. It is one of the few pandemics that has been ended as a result of vaccination. Let us look at the recent statistics. Yesterday was the 12th consecutive day in this country when there was no reported case of Covid-related deaths. The Minister may clarify whether this has something to do with the cyberattack but I suspect it does not, given that deaths have plummeted as a result of the vaccination programme.

The programme is extraordinarily effective in reducing deaths. We also see that, as of today, 111 people are in hospital. What is most interesting about those two statistics, when they are aligned with the fact we are still seeing 400 or so cases a day, is that they indicate what is really happening now, which is that younger people are getting the virus but it is not leading to their hospitalisations or deaths. However, we want to ensure that all of them get vaccinated as quickly as possible, so the freedom provided to elderly people is provided to all people throughout the State when that is done.

We also need to reflect upon the fact that this has become a polarised issue. It is not necessary that the issue should become polarised, because there is no definitive answer as to what is right or wrong when it comes to what are, in a sense, judgment calls. I urge the Minister and the Government to recognise that we cannot eliminate risk from society. We will always be faced with risk. We now need to be extremely careful that we are not being overly cautious in removing very many of the restrictions, which the public regard as unnecessary. For instance, there will be a debate later today, and a decision tomorrow, on what should happen with our hospitality and aviation sectors. We need to recognise we are not making risk-free decisions in respect of this. If we err completely on the side of ensuring the disease does not spread, we will do irreparable damage, potentially, to other areas within our economy, which are absolutely essential.

As I have said repeatedly in this House and elsewhere, we see the consequences of the pandemic in the Covid-related deaths of some 5,000 people, and the hospitalisations, but we are not yet seeing the consequences of the restrictions that have been imposed in response to the pandemic. We need to approach the restrictions and their impact with similar caution because they can also have devastating consequences.

Having said that, I would like to see restaurants and hotels permitted to open for indoor dining at the same time. While there is a risk in respect of the Indian variant Members should remember we introduced mandatory quarantining to stop variants coming in and it appears to have been very effective. Once the measures we have taken have had an impact, we must derive the benefits of that impact. Since we have got the benefit of vaccination, let us use it by opening up more.

We also need to look at the aviation sector. As I came to the House, a number of pilots were outside peacefully protesting and getting significant support from members of the public who were passing by. We have to be extremely careful that we do not do so much damage to the Irish aviation industry that the damage becomes irreparable. Certain businesses have been built up over years in this country and the assumption that they can be turned off and on again is incorrect. If they are turned off for too long it can sometimes have irreparable consequences. That could happen in respect of our hospitality business and, indeed, of our NPHET-----

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