Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment.

I welcomed the news yesterday that face coverings should be worn by all customers and retail staff in shops and shopping centres and I welcomed the fact that regulations with details on enforcement and penalties are being drafted. I look forward to seeing those.

I noted yesterday that the national council of the Restaurants Association of Ireland is recommending that all its member cafés, restaurants and pubs implement a face-covering policy for their staff. We are at a critical point in regard to wearing face coverings where physical distancing is difficult. We need a national campaign to communicate clearly what is expected of the public in that regard. The time has very much come for that because of the public health consequences, because of businesses that cannot afford a second wave, and because of the dynamic between customers and businesses that were shut or have suffered because of a lack of footfall and revenue. It is a matter of making it absolutely clear to everybody what we are asking of them.

I have worked for a long time on creating public campaigns, growing awareness of issues and changing people's behaviour. I have worked in public health, including on binge drinking, sexually transmitted infections, smoking and environmental issues concerning litter. I have even worked on getting people to take staycations and on increasing the number of home holidays in Ireland. Changing people's behaviour is actually very difficult. There was a time when getting people to wear seat belts was incredibly difficult. It took a very long time and considerable investment in campaigns to get people to change their behaviour, despite the fact that the public and personal safety benefits were very obvious. Time is not on our side in regard to our public health measures at the moment, especially where businesses are concerned. Many businesses will not have a second chance.

The Irish, including businesses, have been remarkably resilient and compliant in facing the challenges set for them. We have moved from a position of mandatory measures to personal responsibility and now we are actually moving back towards more mandatory measures and having a mix of the two approaches, but I believe we need to help people to find their feet in the new world order. This is difficult for them. We have thrown a lot of guidelines at them and asked a lot of them. A campaign will be necessary because this is a marathon, not a sprint. We need a multimedia campaign, a universal, high-impact campaign, to tell people that wearing a mask is the right thing to do where it is difficult to maintain a social distance. We need to tell people it is better for them and for others. The campaign should be targeted at different age groups, including older people who may feel they are a burden to others, those who believe we are making a fuss, and younger people who might feel they are more resilient. The campaign needs to be appropriate to the targeted individuals' platforms and in their tone of voice. One will have heard from the Covid committee during the week about how we connect with different demographics and how important the method is. The message needs to be shareable and people need to be able to make it their own. There needs to be a mixture of messages, including Government messages, but national spokespeople need to be behind them. I refer to people of different ages and stages in life. I hope I am communicating the scale at which I believe the campaign is needed.

This financial provisions Bill is about helping people to cope, helping Ireland to cope and helping businesses to cope. Other countries have done this very well. I would be happy to share information on their campaigns but I believe we are at a stage where we need some sort of campaign to target various people to tell them clearly what we now want and need them to do.