Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is nice to see the Minister. Before I get to the substance of Sinn Féin's position on this Act, it is important to reflect on what we have achieved nationally in regard to Covid. The current vaccination rate of approximately 87% - it may be slightly higher - is a huge achievement. The political consensus on the importance of science on vaccines has been crucial to that. At the Council of Europe last week I had an opportunity to chat to colleagues from countries that do not have that consensus. For example, in Armenia only 10% of the people are vaccinated but not because there is a shortage of vaccines. They have ambulances outside market squares inviting people to get vaccinated but there is a huge level of government distrust and, unfortunately, there is a far-right opposition in this country that is anti-vaccination and anti-science. Thank God we do not have that in this country. With the possible exception of the odd Tipperary Deputy we do not have that, thank God. It is important to reflect on that and on the progress that has been made. That is an important point. While we are on the issue of vaccines with the Minister, I also raise the issue of the lack of Government support to date to a call for a waiver on intellectual property, IP, rights for vaccines. That is a significant disappointment to me. I am sure the Minister will accept the logic that no one is safe until everyone is safe and that we need to assist the developing world in a way that we just have not done to date. We need voices at European level. This was brought up at the Council of Europe again last week and it was very disappointing to hear the Commissioner not back the idea of dropping intellectual property rights. It is so depressing to see western governments aligning themselves with big pharma rather than with the world. We need to give the world the right to produce its own vaccines. I cannot for the life of me understand why this Government cannot make that simple and clear call. I ask the Minister to reflect on that and perhaps respond to this point.

Moving on to the issue of this debate and the powers, the Minister is correct in what he said in that there is a consensus that we should extend legislation until 22 October. Sinn Féin will certainly support that but we cannot support its extension beyond that date for the simple reason that the restrictions are being lifted, which we welcome and want to see happen. This Government has shown on several occasions in the past that we can move legislation very quickly, if needs be. It is important to recognise that we have to be very careful in regard to the extraordinary powers that were granted and to how they were granted and managed. I reflect that when the need arose, we signed up to a €64 billion bailout for banks overnight. The idea that we could not come in here, if necessary, to reintroduce this legislation just does not fly. Christmas this year is on a Saturday. Even accepting the Minister’s scenario, we could take the week coming up to Christmas and still come back and pass this legislation. Our view is that that would be preferable in terms of respect for human rights than the tack the Minister is taking. I stress that our party thinks that the approach has been broadly correct but on that one issue, we do not agree with the Government, so this is a respectful difference of opinion.

We need to reflect on the fact that even if these restrictions are dropped on 22 October, there will be partners who still cannot join their loved ones in maternity wards. For the life of me, I cannot understand that. They are marching in the rain as we are conducting this debate. I ask that the Minister respond to that point and say what else he can do. I have spoken to colleagues in Limerick on this issue and have stood with them. There seems to be a significant disconnect between what the Minister’s Department is saying and what is actually being implemented. Ultimately, I argue that the buck stops with the Minister on this issue. We have all spoken about this and it has come up almost every week in the Seanad since we have come back and yet it persists. I ask the Minister address this issue.