Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy English, for coming in again today. To state the obvious, it was always going to be much easier to close down the economy last March than to open it up again. From a realistic point of view and with no disrespect to NPHET, people are going to socialise this Christmas regardless of advice. The choice is between controlled and regulated environments and the uncontrolled environments.

I want to talk about the hospitality sector. It is worth pointing out that in the period the hospitality sector and businesses were open this year, 99% or more followed all guidelines and offered a safe environment. I am talking about restaurants, hotels and bars, in particular. There were more than 30,000 visits by gardaí across the country, as there should have been, and a minute percentage were found to be not adhering to the guidelines. I am sending out the message from this House that if businesses are not adhering to the guidelines the full force of the law should come down on them and they should be closed forthwith.

It is important to point also that thousands of people across the country use restaurants, bars and hotels as their main source of socialising. I am thinking in particular of people who live alone. All of us in this House are aware of the impact this period has had on people's mental health in terms of loneliness and isolation. That should not be forgotten. That will be especially important around Christmas, which is a difficult time for many people who may be dealing with bereavements and other issues.

It needs to be stated that the hospitality sector in general, as the Minister of State is aware, has played no role in the spread of the virus in Ireland. Less than 1% of the clusters relate to the environments within that industry. The Minister outlined in his contribution the supports that have been given to the industry. He will agree that there are hundreds of thousands of employees and businesses and the vast majority of them are small, family-owned businesses, particularly pubs in cities and in rural Ireland. Surely it is not too much to ask that they would be allowed open their businesses for the next three weekends because we are all aware that January and February are much quieter months. Discussion is going on in the media that there will be a phased opening in terms of 1, 8 and 15 December but we have to be practical about that. NPHET advise but the Government should decide. I would like the Minister of State to take the message from this House that there is no point in trying to pack it all into two weeks. It would make much more sense to have three weekends and people in the business realise that.

From a practical point of view, there is no point in restaurants, particularly those in Galway city that I know well, closing at 10 p.m. The reality is that many people with young families might not go out until 8.30 p.m. or 9 p.m. The last serving should be 9.30 p.m. and the restaurant or the pub could close at 11 p.m.We have to be practical. It is just not viable to be closing restaurants, bars and hotels, for example, at 10 p.m., when the off-licences are open until 10 p.m. as it is. It is not viable and there is no solution-based thinking involved in that.

In his contribution, the Minister of State outlined the grants and supports, which have been welcome and have kept an awful lot of jobs safe in recent months. I ask the Minister of State to consider using those supports on an opt-in and opt-out basis. There are hundreds and thousands of bars across the country that are too small. Their owners will feel it is not safe to open for a number of reasons, for example relating to the square footage of their premises or the underlying conditions that they or their staff might have. I am asking that they be allowed to open but if they do not want to open, they should have that opportunity. The supports should remain in place for them if they are not in a position to open because of their size or whatever the case may be.

I want to take this opportunity to discuss the importance of physical exercise with the return of gyms, swimming pools and outdoor sports. These are essential activities for people's mental health and well-being. I appreciate that some precautions will need to remain in place but for the most part, it is time to allow these sectors to open up and to get some degree of normality back in our lives. Outdoor training for sports teams in pods of 15 should resume and all outdoor sports and games should resume immediately in January.

I know many people in Galway who are working from home and they hardly see anyone. Their main social activity would be a night out with the local soccer, GAA or rugby team. The absence of this outlet is damaging for the quality of their lives, as I am sure the Minister of State is aware. I appreciate that NPHET has a job to do and that its focus is solely on Covid-19, but the Government must think more broadly and that must include allowing people to start living once again. Those most at risk should continue to take every precaution but we must allow society, broadly, to resume and we must trust people to behave responsibly. I have no doubt that the vast majority will do that.

As has been outlined in the House this morning, we need to send out the message on green Friday tomorrow. The Minister of State alluded to this in his speech. We need to shop local and forget about black Friday, unless we are encouraging and supporting Irish and local companies. We have to remember that these companies support local jobs and community initiatives. Online companies will not sponsor community initiatives or GAA clubs, for example. People need to realise that and they need to realise where their people will get jobs.