Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 5, to delete lines 7 to 21 and substitute the following: “ “(b) Part 3, continue in operation for the period beginning on the 10th day of June 2021 and ending on the 30th day of September 2021.”.”.

The Minister is very welcome back to the House. I spoke extensively on Second Stage yesterday regarding my objection to the duration of the proposed extension of these lockdown measures to 9 November. There is no information, data or public knowledge relating to the extension. The virus is one with which we have lived and there is significant public awareness of it. The vaccine roll-out is currently under way. The virus is not the unknown threat necessitating these measures that it arguably once was.

The circumstances justifying these emergency measures no longer exist. It follows, therefore, that the continuation of these measures, particularly in the absence of the most robust and critical analysis, can no longer reasonably be claimed to be a proportionate response to a pressing need to preserve public health. The impact that the continuation of the lockdown measures will have on freedom of movement, the EU digital Covid-19 pass, foreign travel and the mental health of individuals, as well as the negative effect on employment and struggling SMEs, mean that the extension would do more harm than good.It is for these reasons that I strongly oppose the Bill as it stands. The Bill cannot reasonably be said to have passed the legal requirement of proportionality or necessity. I propose that the powers be extended until no later than 30 September 2021. Any further extension, as this Bill proposes, cannot be claimed to be lawful interference with the rights of individuals.