Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this motion, which seeks to extend the remit of the 2021 Act to allow outdoor serving by pubs and restaurants for a further six months. Like previous speakers, I question why we are doing this just for six months. I take on board the Minister of State’s explanation that we are going to have a consolidation of the licensing laws. The obvious implication is that we are going to have this consolidation within six months. However, Deputy Howlin is not optimistic that we are going to have it at all during this Dáil term. Perhaps he is suggesting that this Dáil will only last for another six months; I am not sure. I believe it was the former - that we are not going to have it at all, even if the Dáil goes to 2025. If that is the case, why are we providing for a six-month period now?

I know we do not have much legislation to discuss in this term. I will cede the floor to any of the three Opposition justice spokespersons and to the Minister of State if they wish to contradict me on that point. We seem to be very light on legislation at the moment and very heavy on statements. I believed that this Parliament was about legislating. That makes me worry on two levels. First, I suspect that we are in for a late night, or rather a late morning, when we will be here until 6 o’clock some morning as the Minister of State rams legislation through the Dáil and everything will be guillotined. The President has previously pronounced on the concern that exists about the undemocratic nature of legislation being passed in a way that lacks analysis and the detailed discussion we are elected to do.

I have a second worry. We have discussed the licensing of outdoor bars and restaurants as a positive outcome of the pandemic and one of the positive changes in practice in Irish society. However, there has also been a negative outcome in respect of the work rate coming out of the public sector, which seems to me to have dropped significantly. This is something I am hearing from many constituents. This is not an attack on public service workers, or if it is, it is not an attack on low-level public service workers. If we are going to change work practices, and we have done so, and if we are going to change how people interact socially, how people die and how people drink, we are going to have to plan for it. That is what this Bill is about. If we are going to change how people work, with people working from home etc., we are equally going to have to change how this is managed and facilitated. It is the same workload. I agree with everybody who is saying they should be able to work from home. Nobody is saying that people should not have to work when they are at home. Nobody is suggesting that for a minute. My point is that people working from home require systems and management to be put in place and that is not happening. My personal experience is that it is very difficult to get through to Government Departments, to county councils and to facets of the public service. I am repeatedly hearing this complaint from my constituents. It is not the fault of public service workers and those who work in the councils, etc., but it seems that systems are not being put in place to facilitate and ensure the work gets done, albeit that people are not working from hubs. Perhaps it is about computer systems and telephone systems but it is fundamentally about management systems and managing this significant change. I accept that it has probably been one of the biggest changes in work practices for decades. It is a welcome change. It is one that needs to be managed, but it is not being managed. If the fault lies anywhere, it is at senior management levels in the public sector. Senior managers, like politicians, are paid enough to do a much better job in this regard. I do not wish this to be characterised as an attack on low-level, front-of-office, public-facing public servants because it is not. It is a criticism of a lack of systems to facilitate the work being done. It is apparent to me and to many of my constituents that it is not being done.

To recap, I welcome this legislation. It could and should have gone a great deal further. If it is going to be replaced by a consolidation of the licensing laws within six months, I am willing to eat my words within six months, but I rather doubt it.

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