Seanad debates

Wednesday, 7 October 2020

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

 

10:30 am

Photo of Rónán MullenRónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

On the point made by Senator Chambers, I do not support the attack by the Tánaiste on NPHET recently. It was a very individualistic approach that he took, and the thought struck me that if they do business like that, perhaps they will not be doing business very long, either as a Government or in terms of the Government's relationship with NPHET.

I see nothing wrong with NPHET communicating its ideas directly to the Irish people. I do not think the Government has a right to expect that it must find out everything first, so it can measure out what exactly the people are being told. People are intelligent and they are entitled to witness the tensions and the different strands of opinion that go to the formation of decisions around the restrictions we all have to face together. There are economic and social as well as health issues, but people are entitled to know that. The Government has no right to expect NPHET can only speak through it, or to suggest there is some sort of failure on NPHET’s part to communicate properly, simply because it communicates something directly to the people.

For the foreseeable future and until such time that we can be sure our hospitals will not be overwhelmed, I support the restrictions we have to face and I think there has to be a presumption in favour of the recommendations made by NPHET and our health advisers. That said, I do question the lack of discernment and refinement around the restrictions being placed in the area of public worship. It is fair to say that the people who attend churches primarily are a demographic who are highly compliant and mainly, but not exclusively, older people. Most of us have probably been in churches and will have seen the remarkable attention to detail in terms of sanitising before and after services, and the stewarding of people to ensure that traffic is one-way.If everybody was as good at observing the restrictions as churches across the board and those attending them have been, we would not be facing the challenges we currently face. That ought to be acknowledged. Many of the people who value their ability to go to church are among those facing the most restrictions otherwise. There must be a rethink in that regard.

I am troubled by the line coming from the Garda Síochána about the 132 permanent static checkpoints being erected on roads across the State. I support having checkpoints at which people are asked where they are going and why. However, it is another thing entirely for checkpoints to be used as a means of delaying and obstructing people. That hits people who have a legitimate reason for travelling as much as it hits those who do not. It is wrong to use gardaí to discourage or obstruct people going about their business. Such action hits everybody and it is being done in an extremely unfair and sneaky way. It reminds me of the Chinese Government staging traffic disruptions to prevent journalists accessing detention centres in Xinjiang. This is not the way we wish for the Garda Síochána to operate. I caution against that in particular.

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