James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Alan Farrell for allowing me to speak during his time.

I am concerned about some of the actions announced by the Government yesterday, in particular the initiatives being undertaken to prepare for the return of international travel. This is something for which many people working in the aviation industry have been waiting for a long time. However, I am hearing from some of them that they are concerned about the Government's preparations for the return of international travel on 19 July, particularly the implementation of the digital green certificate. Will the Minister of State please tell the House whether the system is ready to be implemented on that date? There is no excuse not to be prepared. The aviation industry, be it our airlines or airports, does not need to be dealing with unnecessary administration in terms of processing people who are engaging in international travel. Speaking as a Deputy, I encourage anyone to get onto an aircraft and go on holiday or engage in non-essential travel come 19 July, just as has been happening for some time in every other European country in the Schengen area with an advanced vaccination rate.

Ireland's approach to Covid-19 has been deeply disappointing. I do not know whether I am being patronised or people just think they know better, but the line I am often given as a young man in the Dáil is that Ireland needs to follow scientific advice.

Countries with much greater resources in terms of government scientific advisers are taking more liberal approaches to the reopening of their economies compared with Ireland. Yesterday, we saw another indication of that. It came as an enormous disappointment to people working in the hospitality industry, specifically restaurateurs, publicans and hoteliers who wanted to resume indoor dining for non-residents. We need to get our act together. As a Government Deputy, from talking to people on the ground in my constituency, I must say that people extremely disappointed with the pace of progress with reopening of our economy. We must do more.

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