Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 March 2021
243. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health the body that is responsible for enforcing restrictions in the construction or other sectors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13818/21]
View answerAs you will be aware, the public health restrictions at level 5 of the Government's Framework Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19 will remain in place until 5th April 2021, when a further review will be conducted. The Framework continues to provide an appropriate mechanism to guide decision-making, and it will continue to be supplemented by more detailed sectoral guidance in relation to measures that apply at each level of the Framework.
On 23rd February, 2021, the Government published it's updated plan for managing Covid-19 - COVID-19 Resilience & Recovery 2021: The Path Ahead. This three part plan reviews the learnings from our experience to date, considers the enormous impacts our efforts to manage and suppress the disease have had on our economy and on our society and sets out a cautious and measured approach to the easing of restrictions over the coming months.
Details of the public health measures currently in place for construction can be found at:- https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/2dc71-level-5/#construction. Information on essential services and essential retail is available here:- https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/c9158-essential-services/ and here:- https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/60ecc-essential-retail-outlets-for-level-5/.
The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is the lead agency in relation to the assessment of compliance with the Work Safely Protocol in workplaces. In addition to the HSA, a number of inspectorates from across Government are carrying out Work Safely Protocol inspections in support of the HSA. These include inspectors from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Department of Education, Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, Tusla and the Workplace Relations Commission. These additional inspectors are supporting the HSA in carrying out checks on compliance with the Protocol as part of their normal duties, bringing the number of inspectors carrying out Protocol compliance inspections to around 700. Information on the Work Safely Protocol is available online here:- https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/bb7fd-work-safely-protocol/.
Between the 18th of May 2020, when initial restrictions were lifted, and the week ending the 26th February 2021, 27,443 inspections assessing compliance with the guidance provided by the COVID-19 Work Safely Protocol have been carried out by the various inspectorate bodies from across Government.
Inspectors have observed and reported a generally high level of compliance with the recommended measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 in a workplace.
You may wish to note that responsibility for the enforcement of current public health regulations rests with the Garda Commissioner.
An Garda Síochána continue to use the 'Four E's' approach in line with their strong tradition of community policing and policing by consent. This sees Garda members Engage with, Encourage and Educate members of the public on public health advice and regulations, with Enforcement used only as a last resort.
The Regulations in effect providing for the current public health restrictions are the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 10) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 701 of 2020) as amended by S.I. No. 4 of 2021, S.I. No. 29 and S.I. No. 95 of 2021.
Statutory Instruments related to the Covid-19 pandemic are available here:-https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/1f150-view-statutory-instruments-related-to-the-covid-19-pandemic/
