Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want extra time on the clock because the Acting Chairman has allowed me to be interrupted two or three times during my contribution. When somebody else made a comment to the Minister of State when she was talking, she just smiled up and said "Through the Chair". Through the Chair, I am saying that I want an extra minute added to my time because I was interrupted.

The Government comes along here and states that it wants to reopen hospitality. We are the ones who have wanted to open up this country and who do not want a divide between people and families in this country and there are regulations there. The Minister made one comment, the video record can be checked for this, where she stated that the Government was working with the hospitality sector.

The Government came to the hospitality sector with six points. If those in the sector do not comply with those six points, they will not be allowed to open. The Government forced their hand in terms of the actions it is taking. It forced the hospitality sector into accepting these six bullet points. The Government should not lie about it. The hospitality sector and the vintners associations were able to show us the points presented to them by the Government. That is how disrespectful the Government is to them. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, said she is a rural Deputy. Well, she had better stand up for the rural county that elected her. The people are watching her in this debate and they can go back through all the videos of Oireachtas proceedings and see how hypocritical she is in the context of her own comments.

I and my colleagues want the hospitality sector open, as does the Government. It should use common sense and stop saying that it is doing one thing but, on the other hand, it is doing something else. That is what is wrong with the party of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and the message it is sending. One side of the Government is saying one thing while the other parties in the coalition are saying something else. They cannot get it right.

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