Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

None of us are particularly happy about this legislation, save for the fact it does an important thing. Unfortunately, the Government is faced with Hobson's choice. Something must be done and the consequences of doing that mean certain people are going to be lose out. To say I am very uncomfortable with the discrimination that has been mentioned is an understatement. I do not like it. I would have less of a problem, for example, if there were people who chose not to take a vaccine, but for people who have not yet had the chance yet to get a vaccine to be part of a group that does not get to experience something is unfortunate in the extreme and not something I want to suggest I am happy about for a moment. At the same time, all Members will have received emails from restaurant owners, bar owners and small business owners throughout the country who are on their knees, need the support of the State and need to get back to business. We have taken significant steps forward in that regard with the outdoor dining scheme, which has worked well. However, we must also move forward in another area and we must put in place regulation that is going to facilitate the return to business, where possible, for those people. The "where possible" bit is of course the part we probably do not all agree on.

Earlier other Senators referred to how this was going to be policed. That is a red herring. I am much more concerned about the disadvantaging of or discrimination against certain groups. I am less worried about the policing. It does not suit business owners and I accept that but it is already the case, for example, that restaurants must police certain aspects if they are operating under a liquor licence. That is in the same vein as this. I am less concerned about the staffing of that policing because in the same way that when one arrives at a restaurant one is seated at one's table, that is the point at which the policing, mar dhea, takes place. There is an opportunity for the person who is admitting the party to the restaurant to ascertain the status of that person in a relatively straightforward way and the systems there are tremendously important.

On the whole, the legislation is not ideal. We are not happy about it and I have heard others say how unhappy they are with it as well but it is a step forward and a necessary evil. The Government is in an invidious position and it is doing its best. This is the most workable solution to getting as many people as possible back to work and back into a functional economy.