Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to address the complete lack of clarity behind, and the lack of an explanation for, the reported decision to close indoor eating spaces in Dublin. Communication and basic thoughtfulness were completely lacking in this process. Last night, thousands of workers in pubs, cafés and restaurants across the city found out through the media that they may well be unemployed by the weekend. I have heard stories of workers becoming visibly upset as the news spread through their restaurant. The Government may be bad at disseminating information but people are not fools. News spreads fast. It was terrible that people had to find out in such a haphazard way. Many still have questions. When will the regulations come into force? How many people sitting outside may be served? Would it even be feasible to stay open if the outdoors were the only resource? There seems to be a new three-step decision-making process, extending from NPHET to the subcommittee to the Cabinet. I wonder whether the Government even thought about workers on this occasion. I hope detailed reasoning will be given to workers in the sector.

There were 6,800 inspections of pubs over one weekend, yet there have been only five clusters associated with pubs, according to the figures released two days ago. Outbreaks in meat plants have accounted for one third of all workplace clusters, that is, 44 clusters. Thousands of premises will close across Dublin this weekend. Why was a meat plant with 226 associated cases not shut down? There is a perception that certain industries are being treated with kid gloves, and today's expected move does nothing to counter that theory. Therefore, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, needs to come to this House next week, if only for a few minutes, to set out clearly the rationale for the closures. Pubs and restaurants are not the problem. There are controlled environments. The latest figures identifying clusters show that there were just three clusters associated with pubs and restaurants across the State last week.