Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am on record as taking the Covid pandemic very seriously. This is about a human rights assessment of the serious draconian measures that were brought in on a temporary basis. The question is simple. Why has the Taoiseach not done it and when will he do it?

When we have spin, we do not have confidence. I have lost all confidence in the Government's approach to this. When I see an emphasis being put on night clubs while day centres and respite centres are not open and children are being appealed to by the Taoiseach to take on more responsibility, there is something seriously wrong with that message. It also ignores the fact that the cross-party committee which published its report last year has been utterly ignored. Mr. Justice Meenan's report in relation to a compensation or redress scheme has also been utterly ignored.

David Nabarro, WHO special envoy on Covid-19, described the idea that people will be discriminated on the basis of their Covid immunity status as a scary possibility in April 2020. There is an onus on the Government to carry out a human rights assessment, explain why it has not done that and indicate when it will do it.

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