Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Tánaiste. The Government's reaction to the Omicron variant makes a mockery of the idea of living with Covid. It slapped restrictions into place based on zero data, when the ink on the newspapers reporting the variant’s mere existence was not even dry, and the panic machine swung into overdrive. Common sense and critical thinking have not made their way into decision-making either.Covid-19 certificates have been required for indoor dining since their inception. If additional restrictions are being reintroduced for these settings with the return of table service-only in bars with a maximum of six people to a table, with no multi-table bookings, that means that the Covid-19 certificate is not preventing the spread of the virus in them.

What does the Government do with these certificates? It expands them to gyms and leisure centres. Because we have developed the system we might as well use it. Does it work? Who knows? Who cares? We do not have the data on its effectiveness as a measure or on the effectiveness of practically any Covid-19 measure that the Government has introduced, no matter how often it is asked for this in this House or the other House.

It is goodbye to nightclubs again with 50% capacity for events which I am sure will make them uneconomic the unfeasible for many venues and artists to actually host or perform. Of course, since these venues are technically allowed, full supports do not have to be given to them.

The panic machine slapped tests back on to the menu for travellers in order to be seen to be doing something when it has been known for more than a year that community transmission is where effective protection begins and ends and no level of border policing will prevent the presence of Omicron in the country. This has been based upon, well, nothing really. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has described the new measures as precautionary in nature saying that they will be lifted if the Omicron variant does not meet our worst fears. Is that really where the Government is at? Blanket restrictions have been imposed on the country based on our worst fears, which, of course, will never be realised.

The worst fears of NPHET has never been realised over the entire course of its time in the spotlight, despite the worst-case scenario depictions being the ones given all of the media attention. In fact, many times we did slightly better than the scenarios labelled as "optimistic", not that many media figures point that out. Those fears will be shown to be falsely based yet again with Omicron. Dr. Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association attested to this even as she identified the variant. She said that it was unfortunate that Omicron had been hyped as: “this extremely dangerous virus variant with multiple mutations” and that even unvaccinated patients with it “had only shown mild symptoms and recovered fully without hospitalisation”. Even as the science on the ground explicitly stated Omicron's presence was no reason for panicking, NPHET, the Government and the media decided, as they always do, to collectively lose their heads. I hope to God that the words of the Minister, Deputy McGrath, are true and that these restrictions will be lifted swiftly once we gain an accurate depiction of Omicron's profile.

The White House chief medical officer, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said that the signs of Omicron are encouraging regarding its severity based on the data that suggests that it may not be as bad as initially feared. A report from the South African Medical Research Council released last Saturday suggests that the strain could cause a milder infection. The main observation in the report was that most patients were not oxygen-dependent and most patients in Covid-19 wards were incidental Covid-19 patients having had another medical or surgical reason for admission to the hospital. A young fella, for example, breaks his leg, pops into the hospital after three days and develops a bit of a scratchy throat. Just like that, he is another young person hospitalised with Covid-19.

I digress as we are here to focus on trade and employment. It is very simple. Impacted businesses should be given the full supports they were ever given and this should not be seen as a case that lockdown by any other name should lead to this not happening. I would rather that those supports were not needed and that the businesses in our sectors that have been hit the hardest were not being asked again to take one for the team.

Finally, on the reintroduction of the PUP, this payment has been a lifesaver for so many workers who have been precluded from earning a living. It is also the case that there have been problems with the system even though that has been unpopular to point out. It cannot be the case that the Government is incentivising unemployment. I would appreciate it if the Tánaiste could address the systems that are in place to avoid situations whereby an individual may choose the PUP over employment.Surely the Tánaiste can recognise that these restrictions in no way reflect any semblance of living with Covid? Instant recourse to economically-stifling measures is a blatantly unsustainable practice. Deputy McNamara put it best in the Lower House last week when he asked when is the end. Covid is not going to disappear overnight. If one cannot vaccinate 100% of the population, we will still have Covid in this country. What is the solution? Where is the plan? What we have now is no plan at all. The constant uncertainty for business and the cost of these restrictions is real money for SMEs. There is an uneven distribution of responsibility in the economy. Companies and businesses have huge HR issues and face mixed messaging and a lack of leadership. There is a massive gap between employees who are fearful and those who are revelling in further restrictions. It is okay for our bin men to empty our bins or for others to stack our shelves, but it is not okay to attend places of work. This creates massive inequality between people in different types of employment. We must get serious about living with Covid because we have put living on hold for long enough.

The Tánaiste is the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The current restrictions are in place until 9 January. I ask the Tánaiste to give a commitment here today that both Houses will be recalled should Omicron prove not to be as serious as initially thought, so that the restrictions can be lifted during recess. Recess runs from 17 December until mid-January. I would like the Tánaiste to make that commitment today. If we are needed back in the Chamber, we should be brought back.