Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I agree with what the Leader of the House has just said about the importance of addressing these matters urgently. The damage that has been done to the aviation and tourism industries is very substantial.The damage that has been done in other sectors is very substantial as well.

It is true that we were rushed by some people into hotel quarantining on a kind of wave of public anxiety earlier this year. This system was defective from the moment it was enacted but it had to be done to assuage public opinion at the time, apparently, because there was a panic that things could get substantially worse.