Proposals were reportedly brought to Cabinet this week to criminalise people who wear face coverings on protests. Anyone wearing any type of face covering, be it a disabled person wearing a medical face mask or a religious person wearing a face covering, can be ordered to remove it by the Garda.

No.

Okay. I am interested to hear the answer. What was reported is that if people refuse to remove a face covering they could then be arrested. It certainly seemed like an attack on the right of people to protest, particularly disabled people, who subjected the last Government to one of its biggest defeats in terms of a row-back on the Green Paper on disability reform. Many of them - people who are immunocompromised - have to wear face masks to allow them to be out in crowds. They need to wear face masks and should not have their right to protest restricted. This comes along with proposals for body cameras and facial recognition technology. Again, it is reported that this is in preparation for the EU Presidency when the Government expects protest from the "extreme left".

I know we do not agree on much, but I thought one of the things we could agree on was our concern around the activities of some who are loosely termed the "far right" who turn up and intimidate and wear balaclavas and face masks. They stood outside your house and my house shouting and roaring and causing significant concern to people in terms of their safety. This is a sensible initiative in respect of a garda being able to direct a person to remove clothing that is being worn to make themselves unidentifiable. It is certainly not about anything to do with the immunocompromised, whom of course we much support. I will ask the Minister to provide the Deputy with clarity regarding the intent of this legislation in writing.