Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I will start by saying that I tuned in to "Prime Time" last night and heard the Minister give an extensive and comprehensive interview. He touched on many of the issues Members are asking about today. I want to acknowledge public broadcasting and the media and the role they too have to play in this. It occurred to me while listening to the Minister last night that I had entered two places of hospitality in which I was not asked for a certificate or ID and I turned around and left. The Minister said last night in his interview with Miriam O'Callaghan that it is up to us as citizens to challenge places and say that they are putting people's health at risk. The places to which I refer were jam-packed. If we are going to have legislation, we have to have some enforcement but we also have to take measures ourselves.

As the Minister pointed out, Covid-19 incidence is rising rapidly and we have to be concerned. There is no community and no family that is not touched and impacted by this terrible pandemic. We have to do something about it. I recall when the Minister, Deputy Coveney, came to the House a long time ago and talked about this thing called Covid-19, and we in the previous Seanad were shocked. We thought this was only going to be thing for weeks. All of us have been affected as have all our communities, our families, our loved-ones and our businesses, but we have to tackle this disease. I am going to support the Minister and I am not going to apologise about supporting him. It is the right thing to do.

The Government has sought professional advice. Someone has to share that advice. There would be more shortcomings, and more criticism, if the Minister came into the House and said he had conflicts himself. The Minister has set out the advice he has been given. In the most recent advice to him, he stated that the National Public Health Emergency Team advised that the epidemiological situation in Ireland indicates a worsening disease profile with a very uncertain future trajectory. Those are the facts.

One of the thing we have had to learn is to take advice, and to seek advice. We have also to listen to it but, more importantly, act on it. This is the right thing to do. As the Minister clearly said, this is a measure until February 2022. There may be more legislation. We can never predict. However, this motion proposes to extend this to February 2022 and I support that.