‘Clothes are not essential’ – Minister weighs in on essential retail list

Speaking to Miriam O'Callaghan last night's RTÉ Prime Time, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Damien English, weighed in on the difference between essential and non-essential retail items. Discussing current level five restrictions as they pertain to retailers, mixed retailers such as supermarkets, in particular, Mr English said that "there is a list of what's essential and what's non-essential" - strongly disagreeing with the idea that the situation may be confusing to some. Pushed by Miriam on whether buying socks for a child would be considered essential, Mr English responded that "clothes are not essential".  Adding that "in all situations, there is a bit of common sense", Miriam was clearly not impressed with his answer hitting back and saying: "That seems mad Minister... So, I can buy a bottle of wine but I cannot buy socks for my son?"

When explaining the lockdown retail rules, Minister of State at the Dept. of Enterprise @Damien_English has said that "clothes are not essential". #rtept pic.twitter.com/tjRG1HiWcB

— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) October 29, 2020

Clearing up that "socks come under clothes", Minister English seemed to concede that perhaps the situation is a little more subjective than he'd like to admit, trying to get the conversation back on track by reiterating the importance of discouraging the movement of people as much as possible. "To be clear, what we’re trying to achieve here, ok, the whole aim is to discourage the movement of people as much as we possibly can."

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