Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak on behalf of the people of Kerry. The Government and the Minister are behind the curve again with this Bill to legalise outdoors drinking. I welcome that but the Government was wrong and not at the races when it advised people to drink outside when there was no law to ensure it was legal. I submitted a parliamentary question last October asking whether the law had changed or was going to be changed in relation to outside drinking. On our licence it states we are licensed to sell beer and tobacco to be consumed on the premises. Nothing could be clearer than that. Members of the Government were not aware of that until the Garda in Galway woke them up and they decided to do this. Now we are voting to appoint judges as well. Why could there not be a separate Bill for that?

I welcome what many pubs have done. They have spent a great deal of money to provide outdoor seating and umbrellas to keep people comfortable. I am glad what they are doing now will not be treated as illegal and they will be operating legally. However, I see this will mean off-licences will also be allowed to sell drink for consumption in public places. That is what is happening. At the same time, owners of indoor hospitality businesses will have to keep looking out the window and not letting anyone in. These are small pubs, restaurants and cafés that have given great service over the years, some going back three, four or five generations of families.

I do not understand where the Government was at. Where has the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, been for the past number of weeks? He was clearly absent and not at the wheel. It now seems that Dr. Tony Holohan and his outfit run the country and dictate what must happen.

Groups of people, even from Kerry, are travelling up the North of Ireland for stag parties and other occasions. What is different about the Six Counties? We are not going to Europe at all. The rest of Europe and the world is open but the Twenty-six Counties will not be open. According to George Lee, we will not be let open until after October. The Government is asking the vintners today to provide a plan. What good is asking them now when the decision has been made? The Government made the decision yesterday to keep small hospitality services closed indefinitely. That is wrong. There is a suggestion that young people have to be vaccinated but there are no vaccines to be got. It is very unfair.

People who owned pubs, restaurants and cafés for generations have their heads down today and are disappointed. A lot of people around the country are thinking the same way. They feel the Government is inept, not at the wheel and not in charge. I agree with them. It is a disaster to do this to hard-working people who were the pillars of society and gave to charities and provided sponsorships over the years. They have been totally let down. The longer they are kept closed - and it looks like the Government will keep them closed for a long time - the more of them will never reopen. It is a sad day for people in Scartaglen, Gneevegullia, Currow, all those fine places, back around Sneem and the Inny Tavern.

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