Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and reflect the view of the public that they are doing a fantastic job. People really appreciate their professionalism, calmness, knowledge and the way they impart information on the activities which are proportionate to what we need to do to beat this virus.

I understand that the witnesses are here to explain their understanding of the behaviour of the virus and how we minimise future appearances of it. My view is that the largest number of people at risk are those with underlying health conditions, people who are over a certain age and people who live in nursing homes or congregated settings. If the evidence is very clear that 67% of nursing homes are non-compliant with all of the regulations, and if the percentage has dropped, in terms of the last figures on compliance that we have, from 27% compliant in 2017 to 23% in 2018, our biggest problem if this virus reappears and we have an influenza outbreak - the latter is extremely likely - is how we deal with that. Understanding all of the information we have and the knowledge that the witnesses have, what additional steps do we need to take to protect those vulnerable people?