Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is good to see the Minister, who is very welcome. He will not be surprised to know that Sinn Féin will oppose the motion. I wish to make it clear that we are not opposed to continuing reasonable levels of restrictions, such as face masks, testing requirements, travel restrictions and measures deemed essential to combating the spread of Covid-19. We accept that some restrictions will need to be maintained, but circumstances have changed since this legislation was introduced in the first wave in early 2020. We are opposed, in principle, to continuing emergency powers nearly two years into the pandemic.

We believe that the onus is on Government to bring forward more appropriate primary legislation that does not needlessly and unaccountably devolve the powers of the Oireachtas to the Minister for Health. It is the Oireachtas that makes the law, not the Government or Departments. We have a constitutional duty to protect the separation of these institutions.

This will be the third extension of Part 3 of the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020. This is the tenth time that the Government has either introduced more emergency powers for the Minister for Health or sought to extend existing emergency powers in place, not counting the initial Acts, which we all supported in early 2020.

Each time, we have called for more oversight, engagement, and scrutiny on new regulations. In February, Deputies Daly and Cullinane introduced the Health (Parliamentary Oversight of Certain Instruments Relating to Covid-19) Bill, which would ensure a debate on new regulations within two weeks and encourage a more co-operative framework from Government. The Government did not oppose this on First Stage but has not taken it on board in any subsequent Bills or Acts.

The Government's defence is that it has limited extension of operation by way of resolution to one occurrence with further extensions requiring an amendment to the primary legislation, but that is not good enough. Whether for mandatory quarantine, travel restrictions, Garda powers, offences, Covid-19 certs for travel or hospitality, or other restrictions generally, there has been a total lack of accountability to the Oireachtas by the Minister for Health.We are fundamentally opposed to the principle of indefinitely extending emergency powers to the Minister without adequate parliamentary oversight and no engagement. We have, time and again, requested more robust, constitutionally compliant legislation with regular scrutiny and engagement on the regulations rather than the every-so-often theatre of motions to renew emergency powers long after that phase has passed.

The most recent example of why the Government's approach is bad for lawmaking is the latest hospitality regulations and the litany of problems in this regard, including having no back-up plan and leaving several days of no regulations at all. There will be no more blank cheques from this side of the House.

I refer to the issue of vaccines because it has come up. It is important to be clear about vaccines. I went to London at the end of August with a number of friends, all of whom were vaccinated, like myself. Three of them caught Covid-19. They are clear that the vaccines stopped them from going to hospital and potentially losing their lives. I want to be clear on one message from Sinn Féin, that is, we fully support vaccines. We have no time for people who doubt vaccines. We believe in the science. It is important for that message to go out from all sides of this House.

There is another issue, which I mentioned on the Minister's most recent visit to this House and which I will raise again now. When we talk about vaccines, we must talk about vaccine justice. To date, the Government has not spoken out and called for a waiver of intellectual property, IP, rights for these vaccines. When the Minister was in this Chamber a few weeks ago, he said in reply to me that he believes that the call for a waiver of IP rights has merit. That was nice to hear, but, unfortunately, it does nothing. We know that only 2% of people in Africa are vaccinated. This Government has been silent. It has not spoken publicly and called for a waiver of IP rights on vaccines. That means there is still a situation where private companies, often imbued with millions in taxpayers' money from different governments, decide who gets the vaccine and who does not. There should be no profit in a pandemic and I encourage anyone who has not yet signed that petition to do so. When the history of this awful time is written, is the Minister prepared to say that he did not make a public call for a waiver on IP rights? It is morally bankrupt. I am saying that to him because I may not have another opportunity to say it before Christmas. I am horrified that this Government will not stand up for justice and the developing world, or make a clear call on the EU and European Commission to change their policy and waive IP rights so that other countries can produce these life-saving vaccines and save their own people. It is morally bankrupt, as I say, that this Government has not, to date, had the moral decency to stand up and do that. I am calling on the Minister to do that today. It is not enough for him to say he thinks the idea has merit. He and the Government need to make that call. We need to stand up for the people of the world right now. Regrettably, this Government is still aligning itself with big pharma. That is a disgrace in the light of what is happening in the world.