Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I attended a meeting on rural isolation earlier with Muintir na Tíre, Social Farming Ireland, Mental Health Ireland, the men’s shed movement and a few others. Isolation has always been an issue in rural Ireland, as the Minister of State will be probably know as a man from Meath, where there are plenty of rural areas, but no more so than during this pandemic. I cannot put into words how important is the way in which this reopening is done and that it is done safely in order that society will remain open. We have a significant personal responsibility as citizens in how we behave during this next reopening. I would hate to tell people who live on their own in the middle of nowhere, with no visitors during the week, that they cannot even go to the shops and that there will be another lockdown in January. I appeal to people to think about the issue from the perspective of someone who has had no visitors and does not meet anybody and whose only outlet is to go to a shop or mass. We need to bear such people in mind when we think about our behaviour over Christmas.

Local authorities have worked hard to ensure that we can manage our streets and public realm safely and that they can provide an enjoyable experience over Christmas, with the pedestrianisation, the cycling infrastructure that has been given over and the removal of cars from town centres. Over Christmas, space will be given back to people and it will enable them to enjoy their shopping experiences in a safer way. It will be friendlier for older people, people with disabilities, children and so on.

I want to encourage people, before the reopening happens, to think about supporting Irish businesses. There has never been a more important time for that. Jeff Bezos and all those guys have made €39 billion in the past three months, not a penny of which goes into the local economy. We need to think about that. I know that if I do a bit of online shopping, no matter what I look for, Amazon appears as the first result because it spends millions of euro generating advertisements and ensuring that it appears at the top of the feed. We all know that Silicon Valley is controlling it all anyway, according to "The Social Dilemma". It takes a bit more effort but it is so important that we make that effort to spend even €10 more per week or per purchase and to think really hard about supporting small businesses.

I ask the Tánaiste, and the Minister of State who is with us in the Chamber, that when the final decision is made in the Cabinet, clarity be given, which is all that people want. I acknowledge that the Government has been holding meetings with the business sector up to today. At every age, whatever we are doing in our lives, we want clarity. I plead with the Government to meet the business sector tomorrow, straight after the Cabinet meeting when decisions have been made, to let it know exactly where it stands and what it can and cannot do.

The local enterprise offices got great supports from the Government and, as a result, they were able to give many good supports to local businesses. Even though people might think their local shop is not online, the chances are that it now is. There is a haberdashery at home, James Devitt's in Ennistymon, where it feels like going back in time. He is on Instagram and nobody thought we would see the day. We need to highlight the click-and-collect options. While a shop might seem closed, it could be open online. Customers do not have to go to the large multinationals to buy their things all the time. Some shops are proving that their prices are competitive, so let us not rule them out.

I welcome the look for local campaign, which was launched yesterday by the Ministers of State, Deputies English and Troy, and the Tánaiste with the local enterprise offices. That is important because they support small businesses. Look for local is a good concept. Most of us will have a bit more time over the Christmas and we might have time off work. I urge people to find their local farmers' market and local shop and see what is open and what they can do in their local area. If shops are not able to open, people should consider click and collect, because many shops now have that option.

All my time could be spent talking about the importance of turning black Friday into green Friday. Black Friday is an American concept and I do not know whether taking on American concepts is where this country needs to go. I am all about a green Friday with 20% off. The black Friday concept will work in this country only if we turn it into a green Friday and support local businesses offering those discounts. If we all spend €10 more per week for the next four weeks, we will save thousands of jobs in the country.

It is important to remember the artists and musicians of this world. When the first lockdown was lifted, I got to go to a couple of gigs - spaced-out sessions, they were called - in Hotel Doolin. There were only 50 people in a venue that holds 400. I have never felt so safe in my life. I felt safer there than I do when walking the streets of Dublin. Venues can do this safely. What struck me most, apart from how safe I felt, was that the musicians were almost crying because of how happy they were to have an audience. Even if there are only 15, 30 or 50 people in a venue, we need to look out for that sector. Events are good for our souls and for the musicians and artists. We are a nation of creative scholars, writers, poets and artists, and they need outlets to create. We all know that Zoom is not where it is at when real interaction with people is wanted.

The most important thing we can give people over this reopening is our time, and that is free. When we are reopening, we will be able to find time to visit our families and friends and have a peaceful and happy Christmas, no matter what happens with the reopening. We need to do so in a really safe way in order that we will never have to go into lockdown again.