Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is great to hear that today is Nelson Mandela Day, which is a source of great pride. I also congratulate Senator Flynn for Traveller Pride Week. It is real honour to have her in the Chamber.

Regarding the "Prime Time" programme last night on nursing homes, my query is on the families and the pain and distress showed at not being able to get close to their loved ones in nursing homes. We know from the show last night that there were healthcare workers who were working 12-hour shifts, six days a week. We know from families of loved ones that the pain, anxiety and distress of not being able to be near their loved ones at end of life was phenomenal. From the Oireachtas special committee that was held here, we know that 30,000 people call residential care units home.

On the guidance on visitation to residential care facilities, the positive news we heard yesterday was that there were low numbers of cases identified in residential care units. I ask the Leader to arrange that the Minister for Health or a member of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre would be able to give Members an update on testing. There has been four-week testing of staff in residential care units. Currently, when it comes to visitors, one can have two named visitors, and each of those visitors, one a week, can attend and visit their loved ones for half an hour. Those two named visitor limits are currently set in stone. It would be nice to get an update to see whether, if there are low numbers of cases in residential units and if the testing of residential staff has proved positive, there would be a review from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre of this.The areas in which visitors could make a difference in terms of their eligibility to attend could be the temperature checking that is in place, usage of the Covid app and that if there is a necessity for a period of isolation we would look at that. It is important that we make a society-wide difference. We can do this by wearing a mask and social distancing, which are important. This will ensure we are able to crush the curve and reduce the R number. I ask for that to be considered and for us to get a response from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.