Dáil Must Reconvene In Early September

Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan has called on the Dáil to reconvene ‘as soon as possible’ to restore public confidence in the approach to the Covid crisis and be available during the return of students and staff to schools.

Speaking today, Deputy Hourigan said that the Oireachtas must reconvene earlier than scheduled to deal with a number of issues:

“We’re faced with a number of difficult challenges as a country and we seem to be heading towards a second wave of this pandemic. There’s concern about conditions in meat packing plants and direct provision that are leading to more outbreaks. There is considerable stress and concern from both school staff and families about whether it is safe for schools to return and how this will interact with the new restrictions.

“On their own, these events have the potential to erode the public’s faith in the public health strategy. Now there is anger surrounding the Oireachtas Golf Society event in Galway. People are livid and rightly so. So many people have given up so much voluntarily in the past months, and second-guessed everything they did. The message was that we were all in this together. While the resignations already given are welcome, other participants such as EU Commissioner Phil Hogan still have questions to answer.”

“The Dáil must return in early September to try to restore the public’s confidence that the pandemic is being managed well, that our young people are being protected, and people’s concerns are being listened to.”