Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have a short five minutes to respond to the Minister of State in relation to this motion. As the Minister of State said, we had a long debate on the legislation when it was enacted. This is simply a roll-over for it, as it were. I think it appropriate to use the phrase "sunset clause", since we are talking about outdoor dining as we head into the winter. The sun has well set on outdoor dining.

Obviously, this is a Covid-related issue. I am sure the Minister of State will recall that when the proposal was first suggested that we would introduce outdoor dining and the sale of alcohol on designated streets and areas adjacent to licensed premises, there was a degree of confusion between what was lawful in terms of local by-laws and overarching national policy. Indeed, a number of local authorities voiced confusion about what was lawful and members of An Garda Síochána acted, at that time, to intervene because the law was unclear. The Department did not act immediately, but eventually agreed that the issue needed to be corrected by way of amending legislation which finally came before the Houses.

In fact, the sale of alcohol in outdoor settings has been a great success, mainly because we enjoyed a period of very clement weather through the summer and indeed, the autumn. Right up to yesterday, the weather was kind to us, thankfully. People have got used to eating and imbibing alcohol outside.

It is immeasurably safer than doing so inside in this time of pandemic. In fact, it has transformed many of our towns and villages. Many local authorities speak of sealing off on a permanent basis laneways and roads for pedestrians only and not for traffic. It has continentalised many of our villages in a way that has been very successful. Of course, the overarching issue has been to make the consumption of alcohol possible but safe.

Unfortunately, we are now heading back into a time of significant increase in Covid numbers. It is extraordinarily worrying. I say as an aside that I hope today the Government will focus on booster vaccines, which are very necessary. As somebody directly related to the cohort, those aged in their 60s have been very badly treated. They got the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is demonstrably less effective. It is very effective but less effective than the others. Yesterday, I saw statistics from the British authorities that show its effectiveness is waning to approximately 40% whereas with an mRNA booster it increases back to 93% effectiveness. I hope the Minister will go back and say this group should get the booster vaccine quickly and not wait for a six-month rule on it.

To deal with the specifics we have in front of us, we will support this extension although we cannot see terrible enthusiasm to have outdoor dining in hail and rain which, I am afraid, is what we will expect between now and the May deadline the Minister has put on this roll-over. Will there also be a roll-over of grants and supports? Will there be a new scheme to winterproof some of the outdoor dining to make it at least feasible and possible when people are outdoors to have basic shelter from horizontal rain and what we would expect in this country?

We will support the motion. I am glad there is clarity on it and not further confusion. I hope the two points extraneous to this motion that I have made will be taken into account. The first of these is a call for the Government to announce further supports for publicans and restaurateurs who want to weatherproof their outdoor facilities for the winter season as opposed to the summer and autumn seasons we have gone through. The second point I made was on the booster vaccines, particularly boosters for those aged between 60 and 69 who are particularly vulnerable. I called for them to receive their vaccines before the six-month deadline indicated as appropriate.

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