Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On Senator Reilly's point, I agree that under normal circumstances one person should not be in a position to make such draconian decisions but one would hope, similar to the legislation that was passed here last week, that it would never be required. We need to give the powers that be the flexibility that if it was needed in rare circumstances, that would happen.

In terms of the golf courses my learned colleague spoke about, all golf courses should close. It is very simple. In fairness, the Golfing Union of Ireland gave that direction. They can argue on the fringes of whether it is appropriate or not, whether it is in the interests of mental health or not, but the bottom line is that they need to show leadership as well. Some of those organisations have been significantly well funded by the taxpayer over the years, whether through sports capital grants, lottery funding or whatever. They now need to step up to the plate as well and show leadership. If there are people watching who are involved in golf clubs, group peer pressure for them to close would be appropriate in my view.