Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I have listened very carefully to the debate. It was a very good debate apart from the contributions from Deputy McNamara, which goes without saying.

I have already reminded the House about how mindful we still need to be of the precariousness of this disease. It is not one that lends itself to being easily controlled and managed. As a result, a response to the disease that is agile and flexible, with the ability to pivot rapidly and respond to any emerging threat, needs to be ensured. The approval of these resolutions by the House today recognises that we are still in a global pandemic. We will never forget that over 5,000 of our fellow citizens in this State have already died from Covid. The Delta variant is highly transmissible so we must continue to remain vigilant throughout the pandemic. Therefore, for the moment, we need to have some safeguards at our disposal in case we need to act quickly in the event of further threats and challenges from Covid-19.

I would like to recognise that Labour Party Deputies and others are going to vote in support of the motion. I would, however, like to call out the position of Sinn Féin and some of the others. I believe that voting against an extension of these powers for three months, given the current situation, is reckless. I would like to say why. This evening, the number of cases that will be announced will be in excess of 3,700. We are aware of a very significant increase in cases across all age groups. Indeed, the current case prevalence is higher than at any point other than the very highest peak, in January.

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