Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This Bill brings to light a number of points. First, it reminds us that the Covid pandemic is not over yet, and that families, households and businesses are still being affected by the threat and the effects of the virus. It also reminds us that the pandemic is never far away, and that we must maintain a state of readiness for any further complications that may lie ahead. Yet, the way certain key health workers are being excluded from the pandemic special recognition payment, which this Bill provides for, is a profound insult to them. These people are likely to be disproportionately affected by the one factor that has made the fragile situation in which many businesses and families have found themselves even worse, namely, the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the consequent rise in energy costs that is affecting every person and business nationwide. Only this morning, a hospital worker contacted my office to say that where it once cost him €65 to €70 a week to fill a car, it now costs him €110. He also said that any changes that the Government's excise duty reduction will make have already been written off. He rang around a number of petrol stations, which are charging between €2.09 per litre of petrol and €2.24 per litre of diesel. They told him that their prices would not be changing tomorrow as they had already bought in their fuel. By not putting a cap on prices, the changes that the Government is suggesting will do little to offset the challenges being faced by people, both now and in the time to come.

I also want to raise an issue with this Bill that was discussed at length by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, namely, the provision in the Bill to provide for the tax treatment of payments made under the proposed Brexit whitefish fleet decommissioning scheme 2022. I am sorry, but I cannot understand how this Government cannot be anything but embarrassed at finding itself in a situation of its own making, whereby the fishing industry is being asked to close for business. This is all that this Government seems to be able to offer the sector, wiping out a third of the vessels that operate in Ireland's offshore commercial whitefish fleet. It is equally regrettable that when another matter concerning the fishing industry was debated on Committee Stage, every amendment that was tabled by Sinn Féin and the independent groups was rejected. That, of course, is the targeting of the fishing sector through the improper design of the traffic light system. To conclude, as we consider this Bill and the measures taken to address the Covid-19 crisis, we have to pay particular attention to one thing.

That one thing is the lessons that were learned and how those lessons are used to address the serious shortfalls in the health system that were exposed when the crisis hit. How long will the emergency department of University Hospital Limerick be bursting at the seams? How long will children across County Tipperary have to wait years to get assessments of need? How long will we continue to see the stripping of community health services from towns such as Carrick-on-Suir and Roscrea? Can the Government honestly say it is addressing the shortfalls the pandemic exposed? I do not think so.

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