Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I have two questions which require "Yes" or "No" answers.There is an unfortunate tradition of verbiage being prepared for Ministers to read. It is not necessarily the fault of the Minister delivering the reply but, sadly, the answers given on Commencement matters are often not what would be expected.

Is it the position of the Government that there is a legal ban in place on public masses or other public religious worship taking place at the moment? I am looking for a "Yes" or "No" answer to that question in the context of people organising such worship, leaving churches open and of people attending. If there is no such ban in place, will the Minister of State and the Government now support a decision by churches to open for Easter or Holy Week services in light of the importance of those ceremonies for many people and in a limited and responsible fashion, as happened in a very cautious and responsible way at Christmas and, indeed, at other times throughout 2020? I tabled a Commencement matter on this issue on 25 November. The Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, was detailed to take it but, through no fault of his, I got no satisfactory answer to the question I asked.

As regards the question of whether there is a ban, Professor Oran Doyle and his colleagues at Trinity College Dublin have pointed out in a series of blog posts and a report prepared for the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, their belief that no such legal ban exists at present in the Covid regulations. Yet we had the bizarre situation during the week of the State lawyers getting an adjournment to allow them to go off and ascertain that basic question of whether there is a ban in place. It was a strange application and, it seems to me, it was a strange decision by the court to grant the adjournment in those circumstances.

Professor Doyle and others have correctly pointed out that from a legal perspective it would be a worse state of affairs if there is no ban because if that is the case, then, rather than the constitutional right to free practice of religion being completely restricted on the back of an unconstitutional law, it is being restricted on the back of no law at all and the Garda Síochána, the national police force, is handing out fines and threatening prosecutions on the basis of no law at all. I refer to Fr. P. J. Hughes, a priest in County Cavan, apparently being issued with a fine by the Garda. He will be cheered to the rafters and he will be in the right if he refuses to pay that fine. It is a bizarre, strange and disturbing state of affairs if the Garda is issuing fines with no legal basis to do so. I will be writing to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on that very subject. Incredibly, when the Garda press office was asked yesterday to comment on this matter, it refused to say whether there was a law in place despite the fact that its own members are handing out fines. As I stated, that is what happened to a priest in County Cavan recently.

If the Governments of Hungary or Russia started handing out fines or threatening prosecutions on the basis of a law that did not exist, the Irish Government and many NGOs would be up in arms, but here we have almost absolute silence. Professor Doyle described this as frankly outrageous, stating that a country could not hold itself out as a country committed to the rule of law if its government is happy to allow the police to threaten prosecution for things that are not legally prohibited. In fact, in the excellent work he and others prepared, he uses the phrase "a masterpiece of misdirection". He is basically making the point that the Government is trying to impose the framework generally, which involves things that are not just legally restricted, but is giving the impression that they are so restricted. That is no way to treat a democratic electorate or, indeed, any other electorate or society. If the Government is trying to talk about guidelines on public health as though they all have legal force when it knows that, in fact, they do not, that is dishonest.

The Government needs to be much clearer about what is legally required and what it is, with entitlement, urging the public to do. Is there a legal ban in place in the view of the Government? If there is no such ban, will the Minister of State and the Government support a responsible and limited opening of churches for Holy Week and Easter?

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important point. As he is aware, the current public health restrictions at level 5 will remain in place until 5 April 2021, when a further review will be conducted. The decision took account of a variety of factors, including the views of the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, on the current epidemiological situation of Covid-19 and the need to take decisive action.

The Government remains united in its resolve to tackle the spread of Covid-19. The disease prevention and control strategy that we have adopted seeks to prevent, to the greatest extent possible, the virus spreading among the population. Based on the current situation and the public health restrictions that are in place, it will be necessary to celebrate Easter online and at home this year.This is for the protection of our friends, families and wider communities. The basic public health advice and regulatory measures aimed at blocking the transmission of Covid-19 from person to person remain vital. From the beginning of the pandemic, we have emphasised the many simple measures that can be taken, including keeping a distance, washing hands, wearing a face covering where required and avoiding crowds. These measures work. The Covid-19 resilience and recovery plan provides an appropriate mechanism to guide decision making and will continue to be supplemented by more detailed sectoral guidance on measures applying at each level of the framework.

We continue to see good progress but it needs to be sustained. I assure the Senator I am extremely conscious of the burdens placed on all members of society as a result of the restrictions that have had to be imposed. Many have been unable to live their lives as normal or participate in the usual rhythms of their communities. For many people, going to their local church during Lent, Holy Week and Easter and attending mass with family and friends is a source of comfort and solace at a difficult time for our country and the world.

Unfortunately, as Members of this House are aware, Covid-19 spreads most easily indoors where a group of people are gathered. When we are doing our utmost to break the transmission of the virus, it means we, regrettably, must make every effort to reduce such gatherings.

I acknowledge the work by the Catholic church and other faiths to put in place comprehensive guidelines to protect their communities in compliance with HSE public health advice. These factors will assume greater importance as we will hopefully move back down from level 5 restrictions in the near future.

In consistence with level 5 restrictions, religious services have moved online and places of worship are open for private prayer only. There are exceptions for funerals where ten mourners may be in attendance and weddings where six guests may attend. Under the current public health regulations, ministers of religion are also permitted to travel to perform service online, to minister to the sick and to conduct a funeral or wedding ceremony.

While our situation presents significant challenges, the rollout of our national vaccination programme offers hope. We expect to have offered every adult in the country one dose by the end of September. In the meantime, the programme focuses on the most vulnerable in our society. As the vaccination programme evolves and scales up, we must continue to apply all necessary public health measures and restrictions. We must be careful not to fall at the final hurdle in our battle against Covid-19 and must hold firm for just a while longer.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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Similar to the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, the Minister of State has given a personally generous answer, which I thank him for, but the statement he has delivered on behalf of the Government is typical of the evasion on this issue. The Minister of State has said that based on the current epidemiological situation, it will be necessary to celebrate Easter online and at home. He then went on to say what ministers of religion can do to celebrate funerals and so on.

The Government is continuing in misdirection by not answering the question I asked as to whether the ban the Minister of State has promulgated is legal. If the Minister of State gave this answer to a child in preschool or an elderly person in a nursing home, he would be accused of oppressive care, because he is not respecting people's intelligence by giving them a straight answer.

The recent High Court ruling on Ryanair DAC v. An Taoiseach & Ors, Mr. Justice Garrett Simons said the Executive branch of Government would not be entitled to short circuit the statutory regime put in place by the legislative branch by creating the false impression that legally enforceable restrictions were in effect. That is the nub of the problem. It is a disgraceful situation.

Services resumed in Northern Ireland today. Last Wednesday, a ban on church services was struck down by the courts in Scotland on the basis it was disproportionate and the supreme court in Chile has struck down a similar ban. However, the Government is persistent in representing to people there is a legally enforceable ban in place when it will not even give people a straight answer as to whether this is legally enforceable.This is not the way to operate in a democratic society.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I again thank the Senator for raising this important matter today. The Government appreciates that individuals in society have been severely impacted by the pandemic and the necessary public health restrictions imposed over the last year. Ultimately, the Government remains united in its resolve to tackle the spread of Covid-19 and that is its priority. We continue to see good progress but this needs to be sustained. We have more than 232,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland. The Government is concerned that, if left unchecked, our national case numbers will only increase further. We also know that it is the vulnerable in society who are most at risk from this virus and we must do everything we can, collectively, to protect the most vulnerable at this time.

The Government has met with representatives of the Catholic church to discuss the current level of Covid-19 restrictions and the church's desire to return to worship, particularly during the season of Lent and with the approach of Holy Week and Easter. The Taoiseach has advised the archbishops that due to the serious nature of the pandemic it is not possible to give guarantees on future levels of restrictions. However, dialogue is very welcome and will be maintained.