Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá sé tábhachtach go bhfuil an deis againn labhairt ar an mBille seo. Níl a fhios agam cén fáth go bhfuilimid ag glacadh roinnt den Bhille ag an staid seo mar níl deifir ag baint leis. D’fhéadfadh muid déileáil leis san athbhliain nuair a bheidh an Dáil ar ais agus nuair nach mbeadh an brú céanna orainn mar ní chríochnaíonn roinnt de na srianta go Feabhra nó Márta 2022. Tuigim an deifir ó thaobh roinnt den reachtaíocht ach ní thuigim é don mhéid iomlán. Tá an Rialtas ag triail gach rud a chur isteach i ngné amháin. Tá súil agam nuair atá an Bille seo críochnaithe go mbeidh orainn teacht ar ais i bhfad Éireann níos rialta chun déileáil leis na cinntí atá anseo, seachas an chumhacht seo a thabhairt don Aire agus fanacht go dtí go dtagann sé ar ais againne. In aon chás ina bhfuil srianta á chur ar chearta daoine, ba chóir go mbeadh níos mó oversight ag Tithe an Oireachtais air ná mar atá anseo. Seachas a bheith ag teacht ar ais ag an mBille i dtrí mhí nó sé mhí nó a leithéid, ba chóir go mbeadh muid ag teacht ar ais agus ag déileáil le haon srianta mar seo mí ar mhí, más gá.

I sat here and listened to much of the debate. I listened to Deputy Lahart speaking about the Opposition. He was giving out and saying we should be more measured in what we say and that we were not acknowledging the huge and great work being done in the area of education. I have absolutely no problem saying school principals and communities are doing tremendous work, given the restrictions and the way they are hamstrung by overcrowded classrooms and a lack of investment over the years in the school buildings themselves. Since it was announced they were all going to get CO2 monitors, there has been mixed messaging from Ministers, Departments and education and training boards. There has also been a lack of planning with the messages being sent out. Who forgot to tell the IMO and GPs they were going to face a wave of parents looking for genuine letters of exemption for children who have problems breathing if they wear a mask for a whole day? Somebody forget to tell those doctors because in cases I have dealt with GPs are refusing to issue such letters because they are afraid of the flood of applications. We are now in a situation where the measures are in place and most children I know in secondary school have accepted them thus far and have worked well with them. However, I am sorry to say they are freezing in their classrooms at this stage. We need to get real about a situation where we have children in classrooms wearing their coats, scarves, gloves and hats. Anything else we do on these issues must be tied to a financial package, which should have been announced at the same time as the Minister was bringing in this legislation. The EWSS and the PUP should have been reinstated in full for those sectors and for the people whose livelihoods are going to be affected by additional restrictions.

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