Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The byword from this debate so far came from Deputy Paul Murphy when he said it is not possible to fight Covid on the cheap. Where was the Deputy for the past two years? This has not been done on the cheap. Measures were taken by the Government that were necessary to protect the health of the people. If the Government had not done that, it would have been grossly irresponsible. The measures introduced were done so in good faith and were required at the time to deal with an issue about which it was unknown how far it would extend. Other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, have experienced total extended lockdowns of a far longer duration than any we have experienced here, and have had to reintroduce them repeatedly. This also occurred in several European countries. It is now proposed to extend the sunset clause to provide for measures that might have to be taken in the event of the virus going on a further run, and that is the correct decision. We should not avoid making that decision now or avoid the signs clear to all and sundry.

There has been a revival of the virus. The numbers are increasing. The trajectory is going in the wrong direction. In those circumstances, the consequences of doing nothing are far greater than any consequences that might arise from the extension of the sunset clauses. I therefore strongly support these proposals. I would have done so in the Joint Committee on Health in the event these motions had not been taken today.

The Minister and the Government have done the best that could be done in very challenging circumstances. There will be more challenging circumstances in the weeks and months ahead and throughout the winter. In addition to what has been done, every effort must be made to respond as quickly as possible to the situation as it emerges. We must not wait and allow the virus to get a grip and become established.

More than 90% of people have had their vaccinations. There are also a number of people who have previously had Covid. The theory is that the combination of these is sufficient to create sufficient resistance to the virus, as a result of which it should wane. That can and may still happen. The weeks ahead of us will be crucial. As the effects of extensive vaccination and the public health measures that can be taken under this proposal, which are the same as those available for the past six months or two years, continue to be seen, we can delay the virus to allow more natural resistance to develop. If that does not happen, other measures may have to be taken. However, we must recognise this virus will not just disappear. It is going to be here for a while so we are going to have to work with it and do whatever can be done to reduce its impact on our society and our freedoms. Nobody wants restrictions. Nobody wants to have anything other than a normal Christmas, but we know from last year, when everybody was fatigued and rightly and understandably wanted restrictions to be relaxed, that sadly it was not the time to relax them. We all took that risk together and we were wrong. The virus marched on. It surged on and has continued to this day. The lesson we must learn is the virus has the ability to surge again and again. Because of that, we have to attack it with every means available to us.

Other speakers have referred to air purification systems. I have spoken about these in the House on several occasions. Their use in indoor situations should be considered urgently. These devices are very effective. They are capable of eliminating 100% of the virus in any given situation where they are sufficient for the square footage of the indoor space concerned. They work very effectively. We may have to resort to using these systems as well. I suggest to the Minister that this be done sooner rather than later. The impact they are likely to have should be investigated in the early days rather than having to do it at a later stage when the situation is much more serious and damage has been done by overcrowding, which makes it very difficult for the hospital system to work. I fully appreciate the difficulties now arising and presenting. The winter plan is about to become available. There are challenges in that regard.

There is also another ongoing issue. Many people seem to forget about it. I have been a Member of this House for more than a couple of years and, during my time here, I have received advice from a great many people who told me we had too many hospitals, hospital beds, consultants and GPs. They said we had too much of everything. In actual fact, the reality is we did not have a sufficient number of any of these. A proper build-up to meet these requirements should have been considered years ago, but medical economists or other kinds of economists had other views and their views were taken on board to the extent we now have a deficiency of accommodation, nurses and consultants. We now have to try to address these issues in the middle of an emergency. That is a crazy situation and it should never have arisen.

There are lessons to be learned from this. On many occasions in recent times we have all referred to the demands having become greater. Why have the demands become greater? Because the population has become much greater. Some ask why our population is increasing and say it should not be. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle and I know well the population has become greater because fewer people have found it necessary to leave this country and go abroad. That is as it should be. We should be able to ensure our growing population's requirement for jobs is, and continues to be, accommodated at home. There is no acceptable excuse for not doing so.

I ask the Minister to bear in mind the urgency of the situation. This could be a bit like Custer's last stand. We again have time to deal with the thing. This is another opportunity. It is an airborne virus which is very active and very aggressive. It will not fizzle out overnight. We have to be in it for the long haul. That means we should now put in place whatever is necessary to defeat it at every level. We must increase the emphasis on repeat vaccinations and the use of air purification plant where and when necessary. Nursing homes are obvious places to locate such devices. They should be used to defeat the virus at an early date rather than allowing it to accelerate to the extent it becomes a major problem again. I fear that, if the virus does re-establish itself to the level it was at eight or ten months ago, we could unfortunately be in for a much more serious situation and may have to introduce much more serious restrictions. I make the point again that we should do whatever needs to be done now. We should go the whole hog and aggressively address the situation and the threat of the virus in every way possible not for just 24 hours or whatever but for as long as it takes. We should do whatever it takes to deal with it in a meaningful way. Then we can walk off and say we did our best and either won or lost. I believe we will win if we go that route. In the course of what we are doing, we have to convince everybody we are doing it for the good and the health of the country.

I forget who it was but somebody suggested we should close down everything. We should not. The country has to try to survive. However, we should have restrictions to the extent necessary to curtail the virus and force it out of the system. If we do not do that, we will be coming back to this situation again and again. I advise that we listen to the lessons of Australia, New Zealand and various jurisdictions all over the globe where appalling numbers of deaths have taken place. Such deaths have taken and are taking place here. They are also taking place on the adjoining island. These deaths will continue to take place unless really aggressive action is taken. I call for that to be done now rather than later.

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