Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have all read about ebola and listened to media reports on radio and television, but it is only when one hears the detail of the impact it is having on families and communities that it is brought home to one how heartbreaking the situation is. I found it particularly tragic that those suffering from curable diseases were being turned away from hospitals and not treated out of fear. Do medical personnel bother to diagnose people with ebola when they go to hospital, or are they admitted under the assumption that is what they have?

Other people asked my question in a slightly different way. It was said that the world knows what to do to solve the problem and it is a question of providing more treatment centres and tracing contacts and so on. What exactly happens in treatment centres? Does treatment work or does the fact that people are isolated deal with the illness? Is isolation the key factor in stopping the disease? I appreciate that it is a virus about which we do not know a lot, and perhaps the witnesses do not have that information. Do people assume isolation is important?