Opposition parties pushing for a clear Covid-19 plan

Solidarity-PBP says it is time for a zero-Covid strategy, while Labour wants to implement a suppression model

Richard Boyd-Barrett says easing measures now would be a 'disaster'. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Opposition parties are calling on the Government to come up with a clear Covid plan, claiming lessons have not been learned from the spike in cases over Christmas.

Solidarity-PBP say it is time to implement a zero-Covid strategy, while the Labour Party has urged the Government to adopt their suppression model.

Richard Boyd-Barrett said the rate of infection has come down but is still four times higher than when restrictions were lifted before Christmas and easing measures now would be a "disaster".

Calling on the Government to introduce a zero-Covid policy similar to Australia, he said: "I spent two hours talking to an Irish public health doctor who is in charge of infection control in Queensland on Friday. 

"It is a different world. He has dealt one Covid outbreak since June of last year. Everybody there is going to restaurants and bars, living normal lives because they shut down very hard on the virus at the outset.

"Now they have zero community transmission, and they have the public health apparatus to actually deal with outbreaks as they come up.

We all want to get back to normality but the way to get back to normality is to get the virus under control. 

"In our view that means eliminating community transmission and then having the public health infrastructure and apparatus to deal with outbreaks in the way they are doing it very successfully in New Zealand and Australia," Mr Boyd-Barrett said.

However, he admitted that such a strategy would involve quarantining all people who enter the country, including an effective quarantine on hauliers who he said would not be allowed home after entering the country with goods.

Labour leader Alan Kelly urged the Government to support his party's Bill on an aggressive suppression strategy.

He said 2021 cannot be the same as 2020 and people need to be given some hope.

Mr Kelly said: "The choice is do we continue to lock up our own people as we have done and continue to do and say they have to stay within 5km or basically effectively quarantine those who are coming into the country and suppress this virus?

"I think we've done enough of the first, we need to get to a point where we do the second."

It's very clear to us now that the Government doesn't have a strategy.

Mr Kelly added that the Living with Covid plan is no longer relevant.

"Unfortunately, they wasted nine months in relation to the whole issue of quarantine, in relation to hotels and in relation to legislation.

"We believe everybody who's non-essential should be quarantined in hotels when they come into the country. There's still too much travel."

Social Democrats TD Cian O'Callaghan said the reopening of construction should be done based on the numbers of new cases.

It comes after the Government signalled that construction sites will reopen on March 5.

"They need to be consulting with Nphet. I think it's less about the date and more about when the numbers of cases and infections go down.

"I think the Government has been right to be cautious on that. We all want to see construction getting back as quickly as possible but has to be done safely," Mr O'Callaghan said.