Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. He has had a busy morning. I watched him attending the meeting of the Joint Committee on Health. It is important we continue to pioneer reform. I commend him on the appointment of the two new chairs of Sláintecare. His presentation this morning to the committee is one we should reflect upon as opposed to some of the populist commentary we have heard from some on other benches who do not care about the outcome other than what they can get in the newspapers and the headlines in the media.

I wish to acknowledge the response of, first, the people and, second, Government, in terms of the roll-out of the vaccination programme. We can reflect upon the rocky days at the beginning of the roll-out of the vaccination programme, when we were all inundated with reports that people had not received dates for appointments. We were all getting flummoxed and worried. Look where we are today. We are No. 1 in the Bloomberg Covid resilience rankings, with 92% of people vaccinated. Look at America, where 50% plus of the population is vaccinated. Rational, sane people are refusing to get vaccinated for reasons of political ideology, putting themselves and their colleagues at risk. That is why I am proud of our country, that we did the due diligence and listened to the science. Yes, there are people who hold different views. Senator Keogan gave a very spirited response to the debate today, much of which I did not agree, but that is okay; we can agree to disagree. The job of Government and public health is to lead, and the people responded and we saved lives.

The backdrop of our debate today, as Senator Conway rightly said, is the 5,000 people, citizens of our Republic, who have died: people we knew, grew up with, lived next to in our communities and estates, and in some cases they were part of our families. They were people of all ages and genders, with immunity and none. Our debate today takes place in the context of the deaths of those people.

As I have said many times, none of us would be making decisions to vote to curb civil liberties under normal circumstances. We are being asked to agree to a continuation of the legislation for three months. The Government is asking for extraordinary powers, which they certainly are. However, as the framework states, it is based on an evolving understanding and response to the virus. I can tell Members of the House there are friends of mine in many parts of the world who are envious of us because we have a vaccination programme that has worked.

I am a small bit concerned about two issues. One concerns the booster shot requirement. I appeal to the Minister, those in NPHET and in government to have an information campaign on why such booster shots are needed, if they are needed and who will get them. It should be clear and concise, as was the case with the vaccination programme. I heard the Minister's response in the context of the optimistic outcome, but I was struck by Professor Nolan's remarks yesterday when he said the situation is stable but it is a complex picture. I am small bit worried in two respects. First, on the issue of mask wearing, we say indoor retail and on public transport as two examples where it is to be continued. I believe we need to have a further debate on mask wearing to make it mandatory in all indoor settings. I was away two weekends ago and I travelled through Dublin Airport. It was a wonderful experience.

Second, I am still not impressed with our response to antigen testing. The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Martin, made some remarks on the issue yesterday. I do not know why we have not proceeded with antigen testing as quickly as we did with other testing.

We have been listening to public health advice. I share similar concerns around the extension of the powers as those raised in the remarks of Senator Gavan and others, while understanding the reasons we need to be where we are and where we are going to. Finally, there will be no requirement for social distancing from 22 October. We are going back to serving customers at the bar. There are still issues with maternity hospitals that have not been addressed. However, I commend the Minister on his work.