Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is not what the Taoiseach said in his press conference. I live in Portroe, where there is a little village called Garrykennedy. Roy Breen and Maura Boyle run the two hospitality establishments there. If the Minister thinks that what the Government is putting forward is enforceable in any of these types of hospitality premises, it is not. It is just not enforceable. It is discrimination. It is complete discrimination. I am telling the Minister right now that the reaction from people who are under the age of 30 is something I have never seen before. They are shocked that the Government has now decided to just jettison them while telling them they must continue working, even if they are not vaccinated.

The Government often challenges the Opposition to have other solutions. I am asking that this is revisited, to reverse that part of the decision. We have the Janssen vaccine that can be administered by pharmacists tomorrow morning. We have AstraZeneca vaccine that can go into the various centres around the State. In two weeks' time 50% of the population will have had the double vaccination and 70% will have had at least one shot. If we also use those other vaccines immediately we can get those figures to above 55% and above 75%. In two weeks' time, before 19 July, the Government could then look at the modelling again to reassess. That is what I believe is a compromise and what we should do, while also bearing in mind the public health advice.

What the Government is proposing is not possible. It is unenforceable, it is discriminatory and it is breaking social cohesion.

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