I want to raise the Taoiseach's announcement yesterday of the extension of level 5 restrictions. January has proved to be the most deadly month of this pandemic and, naturally, people are anxious, fearful and worried for the future. Families have been bereaved, people are sick and people's lives are on hold. Indeed, there are many who have not seen a day's work in almost a year. Businesses are to the pin of their collar in a struggle for survival. People feel the burden of this crisis like never before and so yesterday all looked to Government to deliver a clear and concrete plan of action and to indicate that it had a handle on this crisis. Instead, we got a Government that is clearly at sixes and sevens with no idea of how to proceed beyond 5 March. We got a Government that has yet again failed to prepare, failed to consult and failed to plan. Instead of a real plan, the Government has presented half measures that do not go far enough. At the Government press conference, contradiction and confusion between Ministers was rife and clarity and certainty were in scarce supply. This absence of urgency, leadership and plain common sense has caused huge alarm for many people.

One group that is particularly distressed is this year's leaving certificate students. They are under enormous pressure. They need to know what is happening now. They have made their position clear: they want fairness, choice and an alternative method of assessment alongside the option of the traditional exam. It is time for the Taoiseach and the Minister for Education to make absolutely clear that they will facilitate this choice for those students and give them the clarity they need.

The biggest mess from the Government's announcement yesterday is undoubtedly its proposal on international travel. What it announced not alone goes against public health advice; it goes against common sense. It is not a system of mandatory quarantine; it is, in fact, one of voluntary self-isolation. The Government proposes to send people back to homes and other accommodation with other people who may be going to work and who will go into shops and stores and, therefore, risk the spreading of this virus. That is absolutely crazy. People were shocked by the footage on the television last night of people returning home from places like Lanzarote. That was clearly non-essential travel yet the Government's proposal places all hope in people's discretion to self-isolate.

The plan is also unenforceable and, listening to representatives of An Garda Síochána this morning saying the Government has failed to consult with them, there was an echo of all the Government's previous behaviour. They are in disbelief at what has been announced. This half measure plan will not work. It will also, the Taoiseach tells us, take weeks, if not months, to implement. Overall, it leaves people on our island exposed. The right measure is a system of complete and universal mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers onto our island. That is the only thing that stands a chance of helping us achieve the maximum suppression of this virus. This, of course, has to happen as part of an all-island approach that ensures no airport and no port on this island is left without the protection we need to stop the importation of this virus and any new variant. Decisive action like that would say clearly to our people and people beyond that this Government means business when it comes to protecting our people. I ask the Taoiseach to turn away from the half measure he announced yesterday and to implement a proper quarantine regime.

We should acknowledge that yesterday we passed a sad figure - a threshold of 3,000 people who have died in the Republic from Covid-19 and 1,760 who have passed in Northern Ireland. Our thoughts and our prayers are with the families of those who have been bereaved by this deadly and dangerous virus, which constantly evolves and is causing devastation to people's lives and to societies across the world.

I want to make it clear that there will be no half measures from me as Taoiseach or from Government in ensuring a prolonged suppression of this virus. We will do whatever it takes to keep the numbers down once we get them down. We and the Irish people are achieving that. Case numbers are falling steeply as we speak. The swift introduction of level 5 over Christmas and, critically, the adherence of the Irish people to those guidelines is resulting in a steep decline in numbers. That said, the key reality for front-line healthcare workers, who have been performing heroically on behalf of us all for a prolonged period, but particularly during this critical phase of Covid, in assisting all who get Covid and are hospitalised, is that we have to get the numbers of hospitalisations and the number of people in intensive care down. When we get them down, we can never allow them back up to the levels they are at now. That is clear, as far as I am concerned. That will mean prolonged suppression of the virus in this country. That will mean, for everybody in this House, that I do not want people coming to me again after 5 March with special pleading for this, that or the other sector. We simply have had too much of that.

I get that there are issues relating to education and I get the necessity to deal with and provide for special needs children. The Minister for Education is engaging with all the partners. We should allow space for the partners in education and the Minister to facilitate the return of children with special needs to our schools and to deal comprehensively and in a clear way with the situation facing our leaving certificate students. They have gone through a difficult period because they were in fifth year last year and suffered as a result of school closures. They have suffered this year again as a result of the pandemic, coming out of the Christmas period and the schools are closed. Provision will be made for them. The Minister is working with the partners and the national advisory committee on the examinations, which has the voices of students, teachers, management and the State Examination Commission, which has a key role in this, and she will come back in a comprehensive way to present options for the leaving certificate students of this year.

However, in terms of the evolution of this, what we have now which we did not have last year is the vaccination roll-out. The evidence base for the vaccines is that they prevent mortality and illness. That will give us choices towards mid-year, when we will have significant numbers vaccinated. However, the strategy, as far as I am concerned, is very clear: it will be a prolonged suppression of the virus. The introduction of mandatory quarantine and the additional capacity that will be provided to the State to extend that if necessary is also there as an additional measure. However, the key measure is human behaviour. That is what stops the spread of the virus. Thankfully, the Irish people have responded very, very effectively to this latest phase and the numbers are dropping steeply.

The Taoiseach has set out the very reason and rationale as to why half measures are not enough at this time. He is absolutely right that this virus is devastating and deadly and we have a hard road ahead of us. Most people are compliant. Some will not be but the reality is that for us to maintain maximum suppression we, of course, rely on human behaviour. One behaviour that cannot be countenanced is unnecessary international travel. That is one behaviour we need to knock on the head. The most effective way to do that and the most powerful message that can come from Government at this time is one of universal quarantine.

In other words, if a person comes to any part of the island of Ireland, he or she should face a 14-day mandatory quarantine. That is what is required at this time. Astonishingly, the Government has not opted for that. It has opted for a system that relies on people's best discretion and judgment in self-isolating in their own homes. Furthermore, the Government did not even consult An Garda Síochána, which now says it fears for the health and safety of its members. This is not the way to go. This is a mistake and it is a mistake the Government should remedy now. It should recognise what is required and what has the support of the people. The people will walk those hard yards but they expect their Government to lead from the front.

I expect everybody to lead from the front. The problem with the Deputy is that, unfortunately, she has been on the fence for much of this and has clung to the fence for as long as possible. I remember a headline on the 18 September edition of the Irish Daily Star, which stated "Mary Lou: Open all the pubs". The Deputy was quoted as saying there was no reason that all the pubs should not open again. That was her view then. Whatever was fashionable, whatever was the trend, she jumped on board. That has been her consistent approach to this - jumping on the bandwagon when it suits. Her statements on Northern Ireland over the past two days were brazenly untrue. She should speak to her colleague, the deputy First Minister, who will tell her that we have worked earnestly and in a proactive way with the Northern Ireland Executive-----

No, you have not.

The Deputy's party is on the Northern Ireland Executive and has failed to gain the consensus required in respect of some of the issues she has raised. We will continue to work in a constructive fashion with the Northern Ireland Executive.

The measures on travel will not take weeks to implement; they will be implemented very quickly. It is time for consistency all around, from all sections of the House, including the Deputy's party, on this matter. As I said earlier, prolonged suppression is what is required. We will introduce legislation in respect of quarantining capacity and we look forward to the Deputy's support on that.

I too wish to raise the issue of the new measures the Taoiseach announced yesterday. It is obvious the public are way ahead on this matter and understand the risks from the variants, including higher mortality rates, the potential impact of reinfection and the effectiveness of the vaccines. I also acknowledge the terrible and sad milestone we reached yesterday.

There is an understandable fear among members of the public and a desire on their part for the Government to make decisions to keep the country as safe as possible. Earlier, the Minister for Public Enterprise and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, stated on Morning Ireland that international travel is low risk. Where is the evidence for that? How is it that the UK variant is now dominant and how did it get here? How is it that the South African variant is now confirmed to be here and how did it get here? Is it still a working assumption of the Government that international travel is low risk? The Minister, on behalf of the Government, went on to say the vast majority of people are complying with the relevant restrictions. Less than a week ago, I raised the possibility of quarantine of international travellers with the Tánaiste, who told me that it would be unworkable and that the majority of people were undertaking what he called essential travel. I quoted figures provided to me by the Minister for Health which showed that 49% of international travellers, over a month-long period, even after several attempts, did not provide addresses.

Where is the evidence of compliance? How will changing the guidance to a mandatory requirement to quarantine at home change that? How will this be enforced? Has anyone talked to the Garda Commissioner about this? Do we have a sufficient number of gardaí to do what needs to be done or what is being demanded of them? I also wonder whether, when he was responding to me, the Tánaiste was aware that some of the limited number of flights that are arriving here are coming from holiday destinations such as the Canary Islands.

It is welcome that the numbers are falling. We need to keep working collectively to ensure that they continue to fall, not least because our hospitals are under extreme pressure and because they are now high-risk environments for catching Covid. I find it hard to comprehend, from the measures announced, what the Government's strategy is. It seems that the starting point is what cannot be done, with a reliance on the default position of employing lockdowns until the vaccination programme is rolled out as we hope, but that is not certain by any measure.

Is the Government still of the view that international travel is of low risk? Has it talked to the Garda Commissioner? What is the strategy for the remainder of the year? To what extent does the Government anticipate rolling lockdowns? Does the Taoiseach accept that high-profile non-compliance, such as international travel, undermines broader compliance?

I thank the Deputy for raising those issues. The Government's view is very clear: people should not travel for non-essential reasons. There are very few reasons that people should travel. The Deputy is correct in saying that a significant number of people who have been travelling out of Ireland have, since the Christmas period, been going on holiday and coming back in. That clearly needs to stop and that is why there is additional enforcement at the ports and airports. Anybody who travels abroad is breaching level 5 rules and that is a fact. They are in breach of level 5 rules and that carries with it consequences. There will be an increase to the fixed penalty for breach of the rules relating to international travel, from €100 to €500. There will be increased Garda checks and enforcement activity relating to people travelling internationally who are in breach of level 5 rules, while the existing regulations relating to having to have had a PCR test prior to coming in will be extended to 5 March. The range of mandatory quarantine measures will also be introduced, some by means of regulation this week and others that will give us powers in respect of EU citizens will be dealt with through primary legislation. The principal Act has to be amended to enable action in respect of such citizens. Also, we will have the capacity under that legislation to extend the measures if we need to.

All aspects of human behaviour carry risk, including international travel in the context of variants, which we are obviously very concerned about. As already stated, prolonged suppression of the virus has to be our goal. The numbers are coming down, but once we get them down, we have to keep them there. The key to that is human behaviour, both on the island and through significant restriction of travel into the Republic, as well as additional measures for any violations of level 5 by citizens who travel from the North into the Republic. There will be measures in that regard as well to deal with that and to ensure there are no breaches of level 5 rules and obligations by Irish citizens in Northern Ireland who come over the Border.

Taken cumulatively, the significant range of measures will have an impact on travel. The requirement in respect of PCR tests has already resulted in a reduction in the numbers travelling into the country. There will always be a need for essential workers to travel into the Republic. The category of essential workers is being narrowed as well in order to reduce the numbers who can come into the Republic.

This is really tough on people and there is a high degree of fear. That is why people are looking not to punish others but to be protected. It is for this reason that the focus is on issues such as international travel in the context of the variants. There is a public understanding of the risks involved. That is why quarantine is being sought, not as a punishment. It is unacceptable that people are going on holidays and, on a television programme last night, we saw students arriving into the country. I cannot quite comprehend why families would want their children to be travelling here when, apart from anything else, there is a very dominant strain of the virus in play.

This did not arrive on a south-easterly. It arrived on a flight or on a boat. That will be the means by which the other variants arrive as well. That is why this is so important. What if quarantine is introduced in the UK, for example? Will we follow on then? Will that be where the all-Ireland approach will be adopted? Has the Taoiseach talked to his UK counterparts about that recently?

We are introducing quarantine into the country.

The Government did not.

We are introducing it and the legislation will give us broad capacity to extend it. The numbers have collapsed to very low levels in terms of people coming into the Republic and we must maintain that over the coming period. That is the reality. The Deputy is correct in terms of identifying the variants as the significant factor now in how we deal with international travel. There is a lot of fear and anxiety out there. Bar some Deputies, this is the first time a call has come from different parties for mandatory quarantining universally. That has not been said before by some of the parties that are saying it now. That is fair enough; people can evolve in their positions. The numbers, however, are way down and will remain very low given the additional measures we introduced and announced yesterday and any further measures that will be required regarding the variants. There have been discussions between the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of State in the UK but they are at a preliminary stage. I have had preliminary discussions with the British Prime Minister. North-South discussions between officials from the Executive and our Government have been conducted in a constructive way in terms of sharing of data and so on.