Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will continue with my speech. It has been an odd feeling seeing people celebrate receiving their Covid passes online. It is dystopic to see people so glad to be granted this piecemeal freedom by the Government as if these fundamental rights were its to give and take as it sees fit. However, I do not blame people for grasping at any sliver of hope that might allow them finally escape the miasma of fear that has descended on this country, called down by incessant panic-inducing media coverage, a dearth of effective communication by this Government and a slapstick succession of backtracks, fumbled plans and fudged decisions.

That all Stages of this legislation will be passed in 90 minutes on the last day of the sitting of this House is a disgrace. That the Government has put its backbenchers in the position of sticking a smile on and voting in favour of this, not to mention its waiving of pre-legislative scrutiny, is an insult to its own party members, many of whom share serious concerns about this targeted dividing of society. The Deputy Leader of this House said online only last month:

I believe the government have made the wrong decision to proceed with a plan to allow only fully vaccinated people back to indoor hospitality. We are splitting the people & leaving younger people behind, the very cohort that have shouldered the greatest burden to protect others.

However, the whip has been cracked and the line must be toed. It is a sorry way to do business.

It is not as if the reopening of society took us by surprise. It has been talked about for more than 18 months yet, time and time again, aspirational roadmaps were found to be worth less than the paper they were written on. Members of the Government could not conjure up anything more insightful or effective than sitting on their hands and adopting a wait-and-see approach, kicking dates down the line as vaccines were trundled out. At least NPHET, for all its faults, had the decency to model multiple scenarios, none of which the Government thought merited a contingency plan. Instead, we have a plan that was hashed out over two weeks in consultation with the hospitality industry, which was given no other option. I support the full reopening of hospitality for everyone, which the Bill does not complete.

Were all this the case regarding harmless legislation, it would still be indefensible. The reality is that I have never seen the floor of this House sullied by a Bill so repugnant to human rights and civil liberties. That it would be the policy of this Government to draw a line down this country and ever so graciously bestow on one cohort its erstwhile suspended rights, while continuing to limit the freedom of others, demonstrates the blatant lightness of regard towards the gravity of such an act. There has been much performative outrage recently over the drawing of certain historical comparisons on the authoritarian nature of this legislation. However, you do not need to look beyond the history of these shores to see the legacy of a divided people and a Government that treats some of its subjects as lesser.

While businesses will rejoice at this piecemeal legislation, the Government is selling them a pup which will prove damaging to their businesses, as it is completely unenforceable. I support the call made by Deputy Tóibín in the Lower House that this Bill be referred to the Supreme Court by the President in order for its constitutionality to be examined. Failing this, I call on independent bodies, such as the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, to challenge this Bill, which sets a dangerous precedent for Government-sanctioned discrimination. We went into this pandemic together and we should come of it together in an expression of solidarity that is entirely absent from this law. For all these reasons and many more, which I have not been given time to discuss, I will oppose this Bill.