Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is good to see the Deputy back. I thank him for raising these questions. He called the re-enactment of the public health laws last week "draconian". These laws have been debated in the House on a number of occasions since the pandemic started. Public health comes to the forefront during a pandemic and laws are brought in for its duration. These are not laws one would use in ordinary times. They are used for a purpose, they are specific and they are designed to try to protect lives and health. That is the motivation. The laws were previously debated and approved by this House. We are guided by public health advice. There is sometimes a tendency to be annoyed and frustrated by that advice and so on.

I know the Deputy has a particular stance on this, about which he has been consistent. It is fair to say he is not in favour of restrictions, generally. The key issue is that one cannot manage a pandemic without a legislative framework that allows one to be nimble, quick and to do things to protect lives and the health of people. There is a parliament here which can debate these issues, but it is not possible to do it without public health legislation of the kind we have. It is not the kind of legislation any government wants to bring in. Why would we want to bring in legislation that restricts the normal things of life? There is no joy in doing that, believe me.

If the Deputy recalls, back in July, the chief medical officer strongly advised that if we were to reopen hospitality, the status of vaccination in the country and among individuals was key and he recommended a system of vaccination verification, to protect people. That led to a robust debate in this House in July. I recall it. The Dáil passed that legislation and it enabled us to open both outdoor and indoor hospitality throughout the summer to great effect. It worked.

The evidence on vaccination is clear. The Deputy is not disagreeing with that. He welcomes, encourages and supports vaccination. If I understand correctly, that is his position. The evidence is there that if one is not vaccinated, one will pick up the disease much more easily and be vulnerable to disease, sickness and so forth. I am looking at other countries in Europe. Austria has now brought in a lockdown because of the level of people unvaccinated in the country. At least, we have avoided the types of approaches other countries have now had to take.

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