Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not believe we are living with Covid. Half this country does not believe we are living with it either. People say that this is new norm. It is not and should not be the new norm. People have had their civil liberties taken away from them over the past two years and were told that they could not go outside a 5 km radius of their homes. Those over 70 were told that they could not leave their homes.

I know only too well what it is to lose somebody. My mother died last January because she caught Covid, but she also had cancer. I lost my mother last year. I am well aware of the sacrifices that this nation has made and the losses and deaths we have all suffered, but this is not living with Covid. Face masks for our children, Covid certificates to enter into the hospitality industry, Covid certificates to go on aeroplanes and a PCR test to get back into one's own country is far from living with Covid.

With regards to the modelling, the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, has constantly got it wrong. The national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, has also got it wrong.

I have included the date stipulated in the amendment, 9 February 2022, in various other amendments as well. It is clear that the Government has no intention of accepting any amendments today. What we are doing is pointless. The fact that the Minister is not here, meaning no disrespect to the Minister of State, clearly shows that he does not deem our amendments worthy of discussion with him. Indeed, the number of Senators from the Government parties in the House today clearly shows what they think of the Irish public. While I understand that public health measures have to be taken, there is a fine line to tread in the context of what we can call living with Covid. What we are doing today is certainly not living with Covid.

Over the past couple of days, those in the media have been mooting that schools will close down on Friday and that certain non-essential businesses will be closed on Monday. Why have the Minister or the Taoiseach not come out straight away and said that this is not to happen and that our children will continue to school until-----