Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I support the amendment. I raised the question of enforcement with the Minister earlier. This plan is totally unenforceable. I put 12 questions to the Minister on Second Stage about who will do the enforcement, how it will be done and how the weaknesses in what he is proposing in regard to the digital certificate will be addressed. There are serious problems in that regard and the Minister has not answered any of those questions. I have a 13th question for him and it relates to the digital certificate. The certificate is in the form of a PDF file. What is to stop people from editing that PDF? I saw somebody doing it earlier this evening. There is nothing to stop a person from changing the details and falsifying the file. There are no grounds on which the Government can be seen to be serious about enforcement in this matter. It is as if its plan is designed to fail. It is a joke and the Minister should admit it.

If indoor hospitality is to be opened up, safety must be paramount. The Minister, however, has taken no steps whatsoever to ensure serious safety within the sector for either customers or unvaccinated staff. There are two actions that must be taken if indoor dining and hospitality are to reopen. The first is to recognise that Covid is airborne and, therefore, proper ventilation is essential for the sake of safety.

The second is to ensure that there are clear health and safety guidelines for staff working in the sector. In an amendment I tabled, I requested that updated guidelines be issued on ventilation in hospitality, that there be updated HSA guidelines on workplace safety and that both would be circulated to employers. Incredibly, my amendment was ruled out of order on the grounds that it is in conflict with the principle of the Bill. Is it a case of safety measures being in conflict with the principle of the Bill? Come on now. Why did the Minister not provide for updated guidelines? I have been raising the issue of ventilation with the Minister for months on end, publicly and privately. He told me last week that he was going to pursue the issue. There is nothing on the important issue of ventilation in the legislation. There are no serious attempts being made to ensure public safety. On the basis of that and of many other concerns, it is just not possible for people to support this legislation.

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