Indoor Hospitality Needs To Open Without Discrimination - O'Dea
Confirmations And Communions Should Have Proceeded
Willie O'Dea TD said:
"Last week NPHET advised the Goverment to stop the opening of indoor hospitality and very worryingly they advised the Government to only allow the vaccinated avail of indoor hospitality using a vaccine certificate.
This proposal would in effect create a two-tiered society and constitute medical apartheid.
At last week's Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party meeting I told my colleagues and An Taoiseach that I am completely against the vaccine cert proposal and many shared my concerns.
I also said that if special legislation is required for the vavccine cert, it will be very difficult to get it through the Dáil.
I also wrote to An Taoiseach and told him that since the pandemic began, the Irish people have been on a whole very willing to abide by various new regulations to assist the Government in our battle against Covid-19 and that the proposed vaccine certificate system has the potential to undo the strong social cohesion that has been built up in this country.
The phrase ‘we are all in this together’ would very quickly become redundant as a two tier Ireland would emerge.
We also learned last week that NPHET made no recomendation to stop Communions and Confirmations that were planned for this week from going ahead. I think it was very bad form to stop these church services from proceeding with only a few days notice.
The children and their families were looking forward to their speccial day and they should have been allowed to proceed with all necessary precautions in place.
It is time that we as a society learn to live with Covid and for the State to allow people to take their own personal responsibility, to exercise common sense according to their own circumstances.
One person might not be comfortable going into a busy shop or availing of indoor hospitality and that should be left to the individual to decide on what suits them best.
With the vast majority of those vulnerable to Covid now vaccinated, we have to reopen society and let people live their lives again."
