Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief unlike some of my colleagues. I was going to make a point about why we have arrived at this point and why I supported the emergency draconian legislation in March and October 2020. The key point is that we did not have vaccines then. We now have them and we know they are working. The fact that there are only 93 people in hospitals with Covid is a vindication of that and of NPHET. The Government is saying the vaccines are working, which is good.

Most of those aged in their 60s have only received one dose of the vaccine. I urge the Minister to clarify if they will have a second dose in their arms sooner than the 12-week interval. That should be done where people are vulnerable. In Britain, the second dose has been brought forward from 12 to eight weeks as a precautionary measure. We have been told to be very cautious with the Delta or Indian variant. Why has the Government not been proactive in doing that?

Many people in the very high-risk category have only had one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and must also wait for 12 weeks for the second dose. I know 63-year-olds who received the first dose a month ago and will not be fully vaccinated until July. The Minister has to be proactive and act with urgency on this.

We have reached the stage where the Government is opening up and cutting back on payments. It will also review the mandatory hotel quarantine in July and travel will potentially open up on 19 July. We have told people they can have an outdoor summer. The Government's responsibility is to provide the facilities to allow people to have an outdoor summer.

There is no point telling young people or anyone else that they should have an outdoor summer and then closing areas and not providing public toilets, bins or places where people can congregate safely. That is the Government's responsibility and it cannot keep pointing the finger at people. It must be proactive, put the money in and direct the local authorities to provide the facilities. Councillors have raised this at local authority meetings but we hear from the local authorities that if these facilities are provided, it will lead to more people wanting to come out. We have to manage this and that is the responsibility of the Government.

I will support the three amendments in this grouping.

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