Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome and I thank him for bringing this very important legislation to the House. I commend him and his team in the Department of Health, as well as the HSE staff who have been working so hard during this pandemic. The Minister hit the nail on the head when he said that this Bill is about getting people back to work and doing so safely. People have been unemployed for months on end and it is heartbreaking to see people who have built their businesses up not being able to get back to what they love doing.

I accept the advice of the Chief Medical Officer that indoor dining is a high-risk activity and is not safe for people who are unvaccinated. I have friends who have had Covid and they have told me exactly how they suffered. These are young, fit and healthy people and they are still suffering. They still find it difficult to get back to activities like jogging or even to run upstairs in their house or run after their kids. It is not a nice thing to have and we have to ensure we stay as safe as possible. We do not want to flood the hospitals. We want our children to go back to school at the end of August and this is what we need to do in order for that to happen.

I was very disappointed with some people who claim to represent workers and the interests of people working in low-paid industries because what has been suggested by some quarters is not safe for workers. It would put workers and young people at risk. We have seen a spike in cases among those aged 16 to 24 and we have evidence from other European countries that were ahead of us and did open indoor dining. They are now regretting that decision. We have been acting cautiously but in the best interests of the Irish public. Many people support these measures. I have spoken to many people in my area and around the country and they understand why this is happening. People are eager to take up the vaccine. Some 60% of the adult population are fully vaccinated and 75% are partially vaccinated. I am one of those partially vaccinated people and I look forward to getting my second vaccine dose. I certainly would not expect to be admitted to an activity like dining indoors unless I was fully vaccinated.

Some of the rhetoric around this Bill has been populist and reckless. That language is very dangerous and insulting. I hope we do not have a repeat in this House of some of the ridiculous language we heard in the Dáil the other night. I hope we can act responsibly and maturely and stop whipping up anger, upset and terror among the population. People are stressed out enough at the moment without feeling that there is some kind of ulterior motive here. I would ask the people using language about apartheid to talk to somebody who actually lived through apartheid in South Africa and tell me if they would compare not being able to go indoors without being fully vaccinated to what they suffered through. This is also nothing like the discriminatory laws in the American deep south and to compare it is deeply insulting. I do not want anybody listening to any of our debates to get upset that certain struggles are being compared to what is being done with this Bill, as happened to some of those listening to the Dáil debates.

I look forward to the debate. I wish to raise one issue regarding the vaccine certificates that some people have already received. As the Minister knows, there is an issue with the Irish language on the certificates as the síntí fada have not come out on them.I call on the Minister to reissue those certificates and not leave it up to the people who got them. He should reissue those certificates and make sure any mistakes are rectified for those who have not yet received them. I would appreciate it if the Minister would look into reissuing certificates to people who have received distorted ones. I look forward to hearing from all colleagues during the debate, which I hope is respectful and mindful. I look forward to indoor dining reopening, allowing workers to get back to what they do best.