Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Lá lus an chromchinn sona daoibh. I hope everyone knows what that meant. I thank the Irish Cancer Society for everything it does. My mum had oral cancer over ten years ago and we are very lucky to have her. She lives with chronic pain but she is with us and she fights every day because she wants to see her grandkids grow up and she wants to give out to her own kids. She wants to be a typical Irish mammy. The Irish Cancer Society provides counselling, a support line, volunteer driving, research and so much. It is a lifeline to families like mine and others around the country.

Another organisation that has not stopped throughout the Covid pandemic is Foróige. Foróige in Dublin West is everything one would want youth services to be, they are enjoyable and empowering for young people. It has continued its targeted youth services and has helped incredibly vulnerable families and children. It has innovated through lockdown, it has planned new youth clubs including one with me for Carpenterstown, which I hope will start soon. If there is an opportunity when it comes to changing restrictions - I do not mean lifting them - we need to look at the programme groups and whether they can meet up. It has suggested meeting in groups of two or three with a staff member, just to have some sort of interaction. While Members will have seen how compliance is shifting, this would be an example of a controlled environment. Fine Gael as a party has discussed youth and whether we need a discussion on our youth. We know they are struggling. I am reiterating what I said on Monday about being conservative and compassionate, in that we can still have restrictions while also relieving certain pressure points.

I also wish to back up the remarks of my party colleague, Deputy Dillon, about maternity services in hospitals. If there are vaccines for front-line staff, can we consider the lifting of restrictions on partners in the hospitals?