Clarity needed for people of Kildare on criteria for easing lockdown measures
The people of Kildare need clarity on the criteria for the easing of lockdown measures according to Kildare South based Labour Senator Mark Wall.
Senator Wall said:
“There is no doubt that we must all adhere to the current medical advice from NPHET, however the decision making process must come with transparency from Government and the people of Kildare need to clearly see the criteria or a target that will see us exit lockdown.
“We have heard the Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn say the people of Kildare are doing well and that numbers are falling, and we can see that different measures no longer place Kildare as an outlier in comparison to other county’s. However, we now need Government to set a target which would allow Kildare to exit lockdown and provide certainty to the people of Kildare that they will be able to relax the measures once a certain target has been reached.
“The Government also need to ensure that a campaign specific to Kildare is put in place to help the county recover from the extended disruption. We now need Government to revise the conditions of the restart Grant to allow businesses affected by the localised Kildare lockdown who are ineligible for the grant to apply, to extend the TWSS scheme for Kildare by at least three months to try and protect jobs, reimpose the eviction moratoriums and associated supports. We also need a Kildare specific mental health supports for those working or living in Kildare, with an emphasis on supporting those most vulnerable to the adverse mental health impact of the restrictions.
“This campaign needs to be led by the Taoiseach coming to Kildare to see first hand both the economic and social impact this lockdown is having on our county, scheduled zoom calls can only do so much and given the massive sacrifice of the people of Kildare, a trip down the M7 is the least the Government can do.
Senator Wall continued:
“While we have all suffered and sacrificed much over the last six months in our collective effort to suppress the virus, the people of Kildare have had a lockdown imposed upon them for an extended period twice. The Government need to set out the roadmap and give clarity on the criteria for easing restrictions in order to give the people of Kildare much needed hope.