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

While I respect Dr. De Gascun's contribution, the fact is that the staffing levels, the skills mix and the competencies in these congregated settings are not adequate, and that is the view of HIQA. They are not commensurate with what is actually required to deal effectively with the escalating care needs during a Covid-19 outbreak. That is the benchmark we now have. Thankfully, we are alerted to this now and I know that there is a lot more co-operation between the HSE and the private and public nursing homes sector, but we need to do more. I am not happy that we are doing enough.

My next question is because of Dr. De Gascun's professional knowledge. I presume the flu vaccine should be administered to all people who work in congregated settings.

There is the question of face masks for people in older age groups. Yesterday, the WHO recommended that people aged over 60 should wear medical standard face masks. That is the recommendation and I appreciate we are speaking about it today. If people go to buy a face mask on Amazon, they know the colour is blue but they do not know whether it is medical or not. The point raised by the member of the Labour Party is that we should have an adequate and available supply of medical standard face masks for those the WHO recommends wear them. I do not know whether Dr. De Gascun has a view on this.