New Garda Powers Are Extreme

FDI would like to comment on the recent signing of COVID-19 enforcement powers by Minister Simon Harris:

We believe that this is a step too far, to grant the power to arbitrarily punish people with fines of up to €2500 and up to 6 months in prison.

The Garda Commissioner has also called on Irish citizens to inform on their friends & neighbours if they are suspected of breaking the government's imposed lockdown measures.

This is absolutely abhorrent in a supposedly free society, to see both elected and appointed officials putting yet more pressure on a people already in dire fiscal straights and worried about loved ones and friends, under what is effectively house arrest and now encouraging people to get their fellow citizens into yet more trouble.

We at FDI wholeheartedly condemn the decision by this increasingly authoritarian government to begin enforcement of these powers and their massive potential for abuse, especially while most of the country is already taking responsible action and making many sacrifices to stop the spread of COVID-19 and while a small minority are not, this expansion of police power is far beyond the pale of what Irish people should expect to have to deal with.