Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)

Okay. I am interested to hear the answer. What was reported is that if people refuse to remove a face covering they could then be arrested. It certainly seemed like an attack on the right of people to protest, particularly disabled people, who subjected the last Government to one of its biggest defeats in terms of a row-back on the Green Paper on disability reform. Many of them - people who are immunocompromised - have to wear face masks to allow them to be out in crowds. They need to wear face masks and should not have their right to protest restricted. This comes along with proposals for body cameras and facial recognition technology. Again, it is reported that this is in preparation for the EU Presidency when the Government expects protest from the "extreme left".

See this speech in context