Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy English, for coming in to take this Topical Issue debate. I wish to raise the issue of non-essential work and the Government's lack of strict, clear and proper instructions to employers. Each day, I have people contacting me about being forced to work onsite in an office or warehouse although we are in a critical stage of the pandemic and their work cannot logically or practically be deemed essential. I looked at the traffic when I was driving here this afternoon. It is clear that there are too many people working onsite in Dublin in offices or wherever and there are too many people out on our roads.

A constituent was sent to do repair work at a house where all the family had Covid-19, despite the family alerting the man's employer that there was Covid-19 in the house and that he should not come near it. Can the Minister of State imagine being sent to a house where there was Covid and where this fact had been relayed to the employer? I am sure the employer did not do it on purpose or knowingly risk the life of the employee, but it is certainly risk-taking. I am sure it was a mistake but it could have ended up with the man catching covid. I hope the people in that home are okay.

Other constituents are worried about the retail and warehousing that cannot and should not be considered essential during a pandemic. A lampshade, a cushion or a lick of paint are not essential when we are dealing with a virus that is out of control.

In a pandemic, browsers in non-essential shops are risk-taking. I do not blame them really because they are following the rules. They are not breaking the rules by going to shops that are open. No staff member in these stores should be exposed to this risky behaviour, especially when masks and distancing are not rigorously enforced.

A constituent who contacted me previously got on to me again yesterday morning to say that an auxiliary worker had tested positive for the virus after working an eight-hour shift without telling the organisation that the worker was going for a test. This resulted in colleagues being isolated while already at the mercy of exposure to coronavirus. This constituent was also worried about exposure of customers in the shop.

Another constituent encountered a first closed building site this week. The person had been going around to different sites and they had all been open. Today was the first day the person came to a building site that was closed. The person had been sent to block wall stage after block wall stage of buildings that are nowhere near completion and where use of masks and distancing are not being enforced. The man believes he is taking his life and the lives of his family in his hands every day. The man has a child who is immunocompromised and he is extremely worried about this. For what and for whom is this?

I have written to the Minister for Health and the Tánaiste. I got a response from the Minister for Health today. He says that at level 5 all non-essential retail and all non-essential services must remain closed. Yet, we all know that is not the case.

The health of our economy depends on the health of our public and workers. What will the Minister of State do to prevent this unnecessary risk to our workers and customers in the workplace?

The cases remain stubbornly high. The figures were released today. We have a further 1,466 new cases. That is a slight increase on yesterday. The UK variant is now in 63% of samples. It is easily transmissible. We really have to enforce it. This lockdown is not as harsh as the first lockdown, but it should be far harsher with the extremes of this virus.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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My thanks to Deputy Cronin for raising the issue. She has touched on several cases. I probably cannot comment on all of them because they are simply examples the Deputy is picking out. I am not familiar with the various stories but I will try to talk in general about the issue. Certainly, we can follow up on specific cases if the Deputy wishes.

There are protocols in place and methods to deal with this. The Deputy has raised an array of situations. I am unsure what part of the country the Deputy is referring to and so I cannot comment individually.

I wish to be clear on this. The Government advice is clear in respect of what we expect under level 5 from employers and various businesses. We are currently in level 5 and we are using the Government living with Covid-19 plan. Within level 5, people should work from home unless it is absolutely necessary to attend in person for the delivery of an essential service, as listed on the Government website. The Government website details what those essential services are. It is not for any individual company to decided where it fits in. There is clear guidance and advice. Most employees who contact us are able to track and follow these. The majority of business owners and employers are working to the protocols, guidance and regulations and, more important, to the spirit of the regulations. There is ongoing conversation when it comes to certain products and what is and is not essential. We have asked all those in the retail community to honour the spirit of what we are trying to do. The spirit of level 5 is to protect people, customers and employees.

The reason behind most lockdowns and restrictions is to stop the movement of people so that we can restrict the movement of the virus and reduce the number of close contacts. That is what this is all about in level 5. We have often had the debate in the Chamber when representatives from different sectors say the virus is not in their sectors or here or there. We are trying to restrict the movement of people. That is how we can bring the virus back under control.

The Health and Safety Authority has published guidance in conjunction with major stakeholders around work safety protocols, back-to-work safety protocols and the different guidance that applies. The HSA can be consulted by any employee or business that needs guidance. The HSA does not have a role in determining which employees can work from home. Along with other agencies the authority carries out compliance inspections with the work safety protocol. Any essential worker with concerns about health and safety standards at his or her place of work should contact the Health and Safety Authority for detailed advice on the protocol. The authority will respond to that and a good service is provided. The authority has given a good deal of guidance and has carried out numerous inspections. The inspections have been targeted in some cases and announced and unannounced in other cases. Certainly, the HSA will follow up on any queries or concerns that people might raise.

It is vital that employers and employees resolve these matters relating to homeworking and the choice to work from home. We had a case recently where the option was not provided for. It is important that these matters are solved locally by mutual dialogue and engagement where possible. In the majority of cases I have dealt with, that has happened and we have seen a responsible decision by the employer or business owner.

During the year at different stages of lockdown different employers might have had different views, but over time in recognising the difficulty with public health and the seriousness of this, they have changed their views and have adapted their work practices. The majority of companies that we know of are facilitating people to work from home, work remotely and carry out their services in a safe environment. It is their responsibility to do that by following the guidance and legislation set down.

Again, if there are any issues or if it is not possible to have those disputes sorted out by mutual dialogue or common sense, the disputes can be referred to the Workplace Relations Commission for mediation or conciliation.

The Workplace Relations Commission is providing services both face to face and virtually and its information and customer service facility can answer queries from either an employer or an employee. It is happy to do that and has engaged successfully in that regard.

Separately, and to bring this debate further, the Tánaiste recently highlighted the report Making Remote Work, which seeks to make sure that remote working will still be a choice for many after Covid and will be facilitated but, again, in a planned and co-ordinated way. We understand that many people were sent home in March of last year to try to work from home in an unplanned and unco-ordinated way. Our hope is that we will be able to build on the success of that and the trust created in it in order that in the future, we will have a proper remote working strategy. That is what we are trying to do in conjunction with all the stakeholders, and legislation will come through the House to reflect that in the near future.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I am forced to disagree with him. I believe the instructions that have been given to employers are a bit lax. Employers seem more intent on finding loopholes, which the Government should be fixing. It is important that we keep our workers safe at this time because our economy just cannot work without our workers' safety. I heard Deputy Doherty ask what planet the Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, is living on. I think he is going around with a virtual reality headset on his head because this seems to have been designed by lobby groups rather than public health. The list of people who are considered essential workers is much longer than it was the first time. I am trying to be constructive. We see the Garda checkpoints now on the road. I wonder if there were some way we could identify essential workers and give them passes for their cars or something in order that they could use a different lane on the motorway or something like that if they are travelling and could be easily identified. That way, the Government could be very strict and employers would have to apply to the Government to find out whether their work is deemed essential. I can tell the Minister of State straight that appeasing the lobbies is not worth any worker's life or health. We have seen them lobby. They lobby the Opposition as well as the Government. However, a republic should look after the health of its nation and not just the businesses and its government. The people have been amazing during this crisis. We can see that once we stick to the rules the numbers come down. It is therefore not the people who are the problem. The virus is absolutely a problem but the rules are the biggest problem. We have to be stricter about the rules to keep people safe. I ask the Minister of State to consider that.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I am not sure what the Deputy is trying to get at by taking a swipe at the Tánaiste, my party leader. We have tried at all times to introduce a balance as to how we deal with Covid. At all times it has favoured public health first while protecting people from the threat of the virus, saving as many lives as we possibly can and stopping the spread of the virus. It is also unfair to paint all businesses into one category and to say they are not playing their part. Businesses have taken a major hit over the past year in the response to Covid. A lot of the restrictions are on business and trade and therefore on people's jobs as well. I think everybody has played their part. As a taxpayer, I am trying to support those businesses through this difficult time. It is unfair to come in here and generalise. If there are individual cases, I am more than happy to deal with them. We do that. We respond to them. Our agencies have done so as well in a very professional way. In many cases this has resulted in changes to the approach of some businesses, that is, a few businesses. The majority are, without a doubt, playing their part. If the Deputy is aware of cases, I ask her to bring them forward and we can have them looked at but it is wrong of her to make the comments she made. I remind her that many of her party colleagues wanted to keep pubs open only a few months ago, so it should be borne in mind that some of the commentary in here does not always add up and there is not always joined-up thinking. It is wrong to give the impression that anything but public health has come first in this debate for the past year. I am quite conscious that some workers have concerns, and we try to deal with them. Many contact my offices and our Department about retail and we deal with that. The Garda and the Department of Justice have been part of that enforcement, and we have called into many retail businesses and passed on the advice and the guidance. That has changed the operations. That is what we do. The regulations and the guidance are there. I disagree with the Deputy that businesses need clearer rules. I think anybody who is capable of running a business can interpret what the rules are and who is essential. We have to be very clear. The level 5 measures set out by the Government were the result of a Government decision taken with stakeholders on the best public health advice as to what is essential. Yes, the advice and the guidance in respect of this level 5 lockdown differ from the advice and the guidance given during the first one in February and March 2020. We were dealing with a brand new virus that we did not know a lot about. We have learned a lot over the time since. We have tried to prioritise certain sectors such as manufacturing, education and services for people with special needs. Yes, we have made changes and more traffic will be seen on the roads but it is nowhere near what it would have been in normal times. The restrictions are there.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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All right. I thank the Minister of State.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is right, however, and I will agree with her on this, that it is a matter of all of us following the best advice. That is how we will stop the spread of the virus. It is not a blame game but a matter of all of us adhering to the advice and the guidance as best we possibly can.