Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My apologies for being absent at the beginning of the session, I had to be at the House to deal with Questions. I want to welcome Ambassador Walsh here and to congratulate and thank her for her dedication to her duties in very difficult circumstances. That goes to her entire team for the work and time given over the past years. Dealing with an outbreak of Ebola in ordinary circumstances is difficult, as we know from looking at people who were infected and brought to the UK and the US. To deal with such an outbreak in circumstances where there is a huge deficit of serious infrastructure is really appalling. For those of us lucky enough to see the circumstances in which the Ambassador operates, it puts the whole thing into perspective because it gives us a better impression of the circumstances prevailing at the time and the degree to which the elements were tilted against her: lack of vital infrastructure like water and sanitary services, access to hospitals, roads, footpaths, public lighting - the things everybody else takes for granted. The team itself needs to recognise that it has dealt with and overcome a huge challenge and is to be congratulated for that.

Can I raise the issue of differences which have emerged in the degree of infections in rural and urban areas and the extent to which the health workers and the Ambassador's team have been able to coordinate efforts to deal with those respective areas?