Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome, as always. I thank her for that very comprehensive run down of the provisions contained in the legislation. It is really unfortunate that we are here, discussing this legislation. A couple of months ago we did not envisage that we would be reintroducing mandatory hotel quarantine, but we are where we are. The threat posed by Omicron is unknown and it is right and proper that we are acting here today and pre-empting matters in the context of what we may need in the future. The solidarity across all parties in the Lower House last night was very striking and there was almost unanimous support for this legislation. I look forward to similar support here in the Seanad because we know that the Government is only doing this because we are in a situation where we need to protect ourselves.

This legislation is proportionate and balanced, as the Minister of State said, and it will only be commenced when it is appropriate to do so. The aim is to slow down the transmission of Omicron. We know that we cannot shut down our borders and keep people out forever. That is completely unrealistic. Countries that tried to operate a zero-Covid policy were not successful. That is not what we are trying to do here. We are not discriminating against certain countries but the facts speak for themselves. There are high levels of Omicron in the scheduled countries, as the Minister of State outlined. Hopefully, this will be temporary in nature and we will be able get a hold on things. The WHO has sent medical support and supplies to the affected countries and I would be very eager to ensure that they are not discriminated against into the future. Once they get these outbreaks under control, we should seriously consider de-scheduling them and allowing their citizens to move more freely.

I wish to refer to a number of related issues. We heard last night that NPHET sent a letter to the Minister. The Government is probably mulling over that letter today. I ask the Minister of State to convey the message to the Minister that we need a decision on any further restrictions sooner rather than later. People cannot wait until after the Cabinet meets next Tuesday. There has been much speculation and there are leaks in newspapers today. We knew some of the detail of the aforementioned letter last night. People need to know what the Government is going to do. I urge the Minister of State to encourage her colleagues to make a decision quickly. People's nerves are frayed.I think in particular of people in the hospitality industry. I heard Adrian Cummins on the radio in recent days talking about this and my heart goes out to them. The workers in the sector need to know what is going on. Families that are travelling for Christmas must also know if they will be able to travel or to have Christmas dinner with their loved ones. It would be for the best if a decision is made on that sooner rather than later.

I believe vaccination doses for children will be available from 13 December. Could the Minister of State indicate if there are any plans to roll out a vaccination programme for children in Ireland? I know it will start in Germany on 13 December. Are we going to start vaccinating the under-12s before Christmas? This is another way of slowing down transmission and harm. We have seen the figures in primary schools, and we must move forward with the vaccination programme. There has been a great uptake of vaccinations in this country, and I believe there will be a great response to the vaccination of children as well. As the parent of a child who falls within that category, I would like to know so I can start to get her ready and start talking about it and explaining what is going on to younger citizens. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could address that in her response. I thank her for coming to the House. We are in an unfortunate position. The pandemic has continued to surprise us time and time again. I hope it will be the last time that we pass such legislation.