Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo everything Deputy Eric Byrne said, particularly having been to Sierra Leone and seen the ambassador and all of the other women there in action. People were extremely complimentary about the work they are involved in there. It is so unfortunate that Ebola struck just when matters were beginning to move in the right direction in the aftermath of the conflict.

I cannot but recall two of the visits we made while in Sierra Leone. The first was to Sr. Mary, who works at a school which caters for deaf children and those with special needs. Of course, we were particularly struck by the effect of the threat of Ebola on the children involved. The second visit was to a hospital where the little babies we saw all had wristbands which showed details of how their nutrition is improving. Irish Aid must continue to provide assistance to projects of this nature and the money relating to them cannot be diverted to the fight against Ebola. Any funding provided in respect of the latter must be additional in nature.

I am of the view that a class issue arises in the context of Ebola. Certain classes of people in Sierra Leone were much more affected by the disease than others. A number of particular traditions had an impact in terms of how the disease was originally tackled when the outbreak began. We know this as a result of the work of the Liberia Solidarity Group. If there had been more use of community organisations that understand the issues on the ground, the traditions surrounding the burial of the dead, etc., in both countries, then this could have prevented some of the deaths which occurred. It was terrible that aid workers and so on from the West contracted Ebola as a result of what they were doing. However, the level of care and assistance afforded to those one or two individuals when they were returned home was something else. I completely agree that this is what should have been done but we cannot forget that thousands of people in Sierra Leone and Liberia were dying at the same time. More people died than should have been the case, particularly if a more proactive and engaged response had been forthcoming in the context of getting protective gear and other emergency medical supplies to the region quickly.

Dr. Walsh referred to the other effects, including the fact that social engagement among people was brought to a halt. People could not touch, kiss or hug one another. It is these and other little things that are so important in the context of social engagement.

There is a view that some of the holding centres that were set up were designed as management centres for death rather than as treatment centres and that people did not believe it might be possible to recover from the disease. The outbreak stopped when it reached Mali, Nigeria and Senegal. Will Dr. Walsh indicate why this is the case? What level of funding did the Governments of Sierra Leone and Liberia invest in tackling the crisis relating to Ebola?

Some weeks ago the Association of European Parliamentarians for Africa, AWEPA, had a meeting with the Chinese ambassador and he outlined the extent of China's involvement in assisting with the crisis. China did not attract much publicity or acknowledgement in respect of its intervention and neither did Cuba in terms of its efforts in Sierra Leone or other countries in Africa. As we acknowledge the Irish effort, we should also applaud those of China and Cuba because to date there has been no recognition of the work of either. The Irish citizens who remained in both countries to continue their work are extremely brave. I wish to acknowledge the fact that it must have been extremely difficult for them choose to stay.