No, the restricted movement is very severe. It essentially says someone can go to a shop. It is pretty clear, but it is very restricted

Quarantine is a word that is bandied about the place with great ease and simplicity, but the Deputy knows and everybody here knows there are difficulties with enforcement around it. In response to the travel issue, the Government will strengthen our presence and strategies around the airports, the airlines, putting the passenger location form online and other measures.

Ireland has done very well with the virus.

The challenge is living with Covid for the foreseeable future, and we will be. The Deputy is correct in saying we cannot shut down for the next 12 months, but equally we must, in a balanced way, ensure we can get our schools reopened, get the non-Covid strand of medicine resumed, and make sure that we keep our domestic economy going.

We already have made efforts.

I do not agree with the Deputy’s initial remarks on the overall Covid-19 strategy. As I said earlier, societies all over the world, as they reopen, are experiencing huge issues with the virus and very significant clusters have emerged in many locations in Europe and elsewhere. We are very anxious to avoid that. We are working with the CMO and with the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET. Non-essential travel has been the advice from the very beginning. The Deputy said that tests should be carried out at ai…

What does the Deputy mean by checks?

NPHET and the medical experts are very wary about doing randomised or other testing. Everyone has spoken about the importance of NPHET advice and it believes that there are many complications around this which could create issues for the contact tracing and isolation system within the country. It is very easy to say that we should do this or that. We have examined these issues and continue to examine them. It is important to say again that the focus now is on the health capacity. With the winter flu in particular c…

The Government will prioritise healthcare and healthcare workers in the context of getting through Covid. We will get through it. We do not just acknowledge but know full well the incredible role that healthcare workers have played in helping the people of this country to come through Covid and that will continue to be the case. We will have a €30 billion deficit at the end of this year because of the enormous expenditure on health. That expenditure will continue right through 2021 as well. Testing has increased si…

The reason we will have a €30 billion deficit and a substantial stimulus programme is to keep jobs going for workers and to create opportunities, for young people in particular, in terms of activation and work. We are a global economy. Ireland develops well when it can export its goods and services abroad and people buy them. The international scene is not good. It is very important, therefore, that we take measures that can enhance the domestic capacity of our economy during this period, which is all about workers…

It is all about workers and it has to be.

I believe that we do need a debate on the European Council. We clearly need to stop the ridiculous exaggeration and hyperbole articulated by Deputy Carthy.

To describe it as "disastrous". Come off it.

And him talking about spelling the end of the family farm.

We have been listening to the end of this and the end of that for the past 50 years.

The Business Committee orders the House. I am in favour of an extended debate. However, I hope it is grounded in reality. The Common Agricultural Policy has been protected. It is in a far better shape than people would have anticipated over a year ago, given the United Kingdom leaving as a result of Brexit.

This has taken huge resources out of the European budget. We have a good deal for farmers. It will never be ideal.

Of course the Deputy does. When people say it is good for Europe, we are Europe. We export our beef, milk and milk products to European markets.

If Europe does not recover, then our exports of beef, milk and other agricultural products decline. That is the context in which we are working. That said, we worked as a country to protect the Common Agricultural Policy.

No, we have not failed.