Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I have made no secret of my cautious approach to Covid-19. I regret, for example, that we did not opt for a four-week level 5 lockdown when it was first recommended. I think we could be facing figures of 100 cases rather than the 250 that we still have, and that would be a better place to be in as we move into Christmas. With that in mind, the precautionary principle in Article 191 of the EU treaty is really important and I am big fan of it. The principle has a scientific basis. The burden of proof is not to prove danger but the absence of it.What is unique about the precautionary principle is that in general we try to prove things, but where a health or environmental risk is assessed, we tend to err on the side of caution. I absolutely accept that there needs to be nuance, and we have seen situations where church services have been held in a different way, and music events have taken place outdoors, but the burden of proof in such situations must be that it can be demonstrated that safety will be provided. We need to be really careful on where that burden of proof lies and, where it exists, let there perhaps be nuance, because that is important. Within the general cautious approach, we must also make prioritisations. The issue of schools has been discussed before, and there have been examples of risks being taken in one area to protect others in a different area, which is important.

I believe that at Christmas and over the holiday period, relationships are key. I do not wish to diminish the importance of areas such as sport and business, but family and other relationships are the most important thing at this time. It may be that some relationships are facilitated through community or religious moments that are safely managed, and those moments that concern our personhood and relationships should be protected. I urge that these relationships are not put at risk by any undue haste, and that real care is taken to what we do in the first two or three weeks in December to protect that period of time in late December. People will probably be visiting family, so decisions could be made to reduce risk. For example, if the schools were to close one day earlier on Friday, 18 December, that would allow more time before children, who may have been in a classroom, find themselves with grandparents. The small decision to finish school one day earlier could have a proportionate benefit.

It is similar to the issue of working from home. People are constantly being told to work from home, but many do not have the discretion to decide to work from home, as it is their employer who will decide whether they will be permitted to do so. It is important that the Minister of State and the Government send key messages both to employers and employees to support the idea of working from home. Even in cases where it is not the norm, working from home should be accommodated in the week running up to Christmas to give people a longer gap between their activity in one crowded space and potentially their contact with vulnerable family members.

Depending on our testing capacity, another step that might be taken is that where there are high-risk individuals involved, there may be some role for precautionary testing before they meet with others. We already know that we will need to do that in airports and for those travelling home from overseas.

I am a little concerned about the announcement being made tomorrow. This is another part of nuance. I support the proposal from Senator Crowe on an opt-out. Businesses that know that they will not be safe to reopen, should not have to do so, and staff should be permitted to continue to receive the PUP. I know some businesses are worrying about putting their staff at risk because they will not be able to receive the PUP if businesses are required to open, so there must be nuance there. In respect of the qualification for the Christmas bonus element of the PUP, as I understand it, the decision will be based on activity from tomorrow, Friday evening, and through the following week. I am concerned about this. Perhaps the Minister of State can reassure us that the announcement tomorrow will not mean that lots of people who have been receiving the PUP for months will no longer qualify for this bonus simply because they may have a day of work next week.

Concerns also exist around the safety of workers in factories and retail. Will there be clear guidance to support the safety of workers in retail, to ensure they have handwashing breaks, for example, and similar things that are very practical but make a big difference to the safety of workers?

There may be some redundancies in the businesses that do not open, which we do not want to see, given that Brexit will also be happening over the Christmas period. We do not want to see multiple cases similar to that of Debenhams, so it is important that issues such as sick pay and redundancy pay are addressed, as there could be dovetailing with the impact of Covid and redundancies.

While I encourage SMEs, local businesses and others to support An Post, perhaps the Government could also support it, considering the incredibly positive role it has played throughout the pandemic. We know that it traditionally hires extra postal workers at Christmas, so perhaps some additional resources could be directed to An Post to support it while it, in turn, supports local businesses around this time. That is a very practical measure and a way in which the State could give encouragement to an organisation which has provided great support and encouragement to others.