The Government announced that additional public health restrictions would apply under Level 5 of the Plan for Living with COVID-19 on 6 January 2021. The introduction of the new restrictions followed advice from NPHET that the situation with the virus had deteriorated to the point where there was an absolute need to reduce the level of mobility and congregation in order to reduce all opportunities for transmission.
In accordance with the Public Health advice, the additional restrictions required construction activity to cease from Friday 8 January. The Government agreed a limited number of exemptions from these restrictions. These exemptions, which are set out in S.I. 4 of 2021, allow for the continuation of construction and development projects which are necessary for maintenance of supply chains in respect of certain manufacturing or information and communication services. The manufacturing and information and communication services include: chemicals, pharmaceutical products, medical devices, IT equipment, products necessary for national and international supply chains, personal hygiene products, broadband, data centres, etc. This has allowed certain key projects in the Exporting/FDI sector to continue.
While I am not aware of the submission referenced by the Deputy, I am, of course, acutely aware of the ongoing impact the pandemic is having on our economy, and the challenges faced by the construction industry. Our approach will continue to be guided by the public health advice and will be kept under review. The current restrictions will remain in place until 5 April, when the issue of any potential easing of restrictions relating to construction will be considered further.
