Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It has been said many times that we cannot support something that segregates our citizens and leaves them behind. We cannot pit family members against family members. My daughter works in a restaurant. What Deputy Martin Kenny said is true - tensions are already rising about who can go in and who cannot. I have spoken to a good number of publicans about this matter since Monday. They are in fear for their lives over what is going to happen. There is a soft touch, obligatory kind of approach, but all the onus is put on the premises' owners.

I have read this Bill twice, but I saw no mention of a person's safety, civil liberties or rights. Frighteningly, it is all about emergency cessation orders, compliance notices, compliance officers, the District Court and the Circuit Court. A tough hand is being brought down. Like Deputy Cullinane, I cannot understand why there has been no future planning if we are all supposed to be in this together. We knew last year that this would happen. Everyone has a PPS number. It is beyond belief. I spoke to people who could not figure it out. I cannot enter a hotel with my family and sit down for a meal and a drink because my two kids are not vaccinated, yet one of them can serve food and drinks to people in a restaurant even though she is not vaccinated. I have often spoken to publicans who say that they are in fear for their lives over how they will police any of this. Some people say they would have to hire extra security. What are the implications of someone asking people at the door whether they are vaccinated?

I will make a personal note about a significant issue. There are not too many things in this life that you own - your name, possibly your phone number and your medical records. I see where the Government is coming from, but the fear factor has to go. The Government has to work with everyone. There is still not a great deal of clarity about indoor operators. What is an indoor operator? Does it cover fun fairs and indoor amusement arcades? We do not know because there is no clarity on the matter.

The greatest fear is that the Bill is being rushed. The Tánaiste mentioned the sunset clause, but there will be an opportunity to extend the provisions to January. That cannot work. The Government must listen to everyone on this side. We must work together and try to get something that suits everyone. If the Government rushes the Bill through, there will be many more social problems and the anger that is already out there will escalate. Where civil liberties and rights are concerned, pitting people who have against people who have not will lead us down a very dangerous road, regardless of whether there is a pandemic. If everybody cannot be respected and treated equally and fairly, it will not work and we will be in big trouble.

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