As the Taoiseach may be aware, I have repeatedly highlighted the Government's failure to carry out even the most basic human rights assessment of any of the draconian legislation enacted by this Dáil, including the most recent Bills on hotel mandatory quarantine and the consolidation of four separate pieces of legislation into one. While this might be understandable, in the initial months, following the declaration of a pandemic, back on 11 March 2020, when there was a lack of information, a sense of urgency and an overwhelming sense of fear, almost 22 months later, it is simply unacceptable and unforgivable.

The importance of carrying out a human rights assessment has been highlighted, repeatedly, by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. It has simply been ignored. Amongst many concerns, it has highlighted that the regulations restricting rights under emergency legislation, without Oireachtas scrutiny, despite the Taoiseach's rhetoric, are there since March 2020. Thorough, effective scrutiny is necessary for a valid proportionality assessment, as required under the Constitution and human rights law, for any laws that actually or potentially restrict rights.

It said, amongst many other things, that Government must demonstrate that such measures are necessary and proportionate to a specific, legitimate aim and that they constitute the most minimal interference with rights possible in the situation. It goes on, foolishly in terms of what the Government has done, to say the importance of clarity of messaging is crucial to instil public confidence and understanding of new laws. The clarity of message is absolutely crucial to bring all of us on board when we face a public health threat of the magnitude we have faced.

Instead of that assessment, on even the most basic level, we have got the language of division, demonisation and discrimination. The current spin, which has changed many times to suit Government agenda or indeed some of the pharmaceutical companies, is now all about personal responsibility. That is deeply duplicitous, because for those who have reflected, researched and come to a considered decision that a vaccination is not for them, for one of many reasons, this group, which is far from homogenous, is now the subject of appalling comments and screaming headlines. I will refer to letters I received from a consultant on two occasions and I am sure he has also written to other Deputies, to highlight he is absolutely for vaccination and people should take it, but he also highlights the group of people that has had an adverse reaction to the first or second dose, or for other reasons and for which absolutely no provision has been made.

The Taoiseach's spin hides, obfuscates and confuses what has not been done. It ignores what the Policing Authority reports have consistently told us, that the vast majority of people in Ireland have been surprisingly compliant. It ignores the Council of Europe resolution, which is very detailed and the Taoiseach might read it some time. It talks about the importance of looking at the voluntary aspect of vaccinations and bringing people-----

I thank the Deputy.

-----on board. It ignores the fact we have ignored the poorer countries. We have a letter here from the nurses of more than 30 countries telling us it is unacceptable. It ignores the fact we have not been given any update on public health infrastructure on the ground in order that we can competently deal - am I over time?

The Deputy is way over.

I beg your pardon, a Cheann Comhairle.

The Deputy was so engrossed, I could not interrupt her.

What do I say? My apologies. I will stop.

I disagree with the basic premise of the Deputy's argument. She speaks of a Government agenda. The only agenda I and the Government have is to protect people's lives and health in the middle of a global pandemic which is a one-in-100-year event. There is no other agenda than that. I do not know what the Deputy meant when she said it was just to suit the Government's agenda. Our motivation is to protect people and their lives. I will be honest with the Deputy.

That needs balance between competing interests and rights. There is always a challenge in public health in balancing those rights. In a public health crisis or pandemic, we have to give higher priority to public health advice. I have no issue with evaluating it through the prism of human rights but we are combating the spread of the virus. There is a range of bodies, agencies and statutory authorities in a modern democracy and government has to balance all of that but we are dealing with a pandemic that has killed millions around the world. We should not forget the severity and deadly nature of this disease.

We have had a voluntary vaccination programme. We have not had a mandatory or compulsory programme, nor should we have one. There is an obligation, people can have arguments and we have to provide the evidence. It is not spin. We are being told what is emerging from hospitals by hospital authorities. They give us the profile of those in ICU and in hospital, their vaccination status and so forth. I am not making that up. I have an obligation to put that before the public and the House.

I accept there are people who cannot be vaccinated because of adverse reactions or medical conditions. They should be provided for and I have asked that proper systems be developed where people with genuine medical issues or adverse reactions are facilitated in terms of participation in society. The vast majority of people have been compliant. That is why we have been effective as a country in dealing with this disease, relative to other countries in terms of death rates, illness and so forth. People have taken the messages on board. People adapted to the messaging three weeks ago. They saw the dangers rising in respect of Delta and the case numbers and changed behaviour.

There is nothing the Government would like better than to be back in a normal situation, dispense with the legislation that Deputy Mattie McGrath spoke about and get back to ordinary living because it is not the most popular thing in the world to be restricting people's personal liberties and freedoms.

I am on record as taking the Covid pandemic very seriously. This is about a human rights assessment of the serious draconian measures that were brought in on a temporary basis. The question is simple. Why has the Taoiseach not done it and when will he do it?

When we have spin, we do not have confidence. I have lost all confidence in the Government's approach to this. When I see an emphasis being put on night clubs while day centres and respite centres are not open and children are being appealed to by the Taoiseach to take on more responsibility, there is something seriously wrong with that message. It also ignores the fact that the cross-party committee which published its report last year has been utterly ignored. Mr. Justice Meenan's report in relation to a compensation or redress scheme has also been utterly ignored.

David Nabarro, WHO special envoy on Covid-19, described the idea that people will be discriminated against on the basis of their Covid immunity status as a scary possibility in April 2020. There is an onus on the Government to carry out a human rights assessment, explain why it has not done that and indicate when it will do it.

Hear, hear.

We talk about spin and we all have our own perceptions of spin. The Deputy just did a bit of spinning when she said I was putting more responsibility on children. I did nothing of the sort. I acknowledged the challenges that faced children, what they have done to date and how difficult it has been for them.

You did that and then you went on-----

The Deputy is no exception in the House either, in terms of having the capacity to spin. I did not interrupt her. The point I was making was that children and young people have gone through an awful lot in this pandemic. Their quality of life has been in many ways reduced by the pandemic. It is the Covid-19 pandemic that is driving all of this. Those in the engine room have to keep going to protect people. We do not have the luxury of doing all the comprehensive evaluations people would like us to do. We are mindful of the issues for people in their daily lives. They are fed up with this pandemic. What is the most fundamental human right of all? It is to protect life and limb. That is a fundamental obligation of government. I would go before any human rights commission and say my fundamental responsibility and that of the Government is to protect people's lives and to take expert advice and assess it. This Oireachtas assesses that advice as well as to whether it will protect people's lives and limbs and whether to go with it.