Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of those who have presented here today. I speak on behalf of everybody when I say - and most of the population will agree - that the evidence presented today is probably the most astonishing we have heard in this committee. The hairs were standing on the back of my neck when Ms Ní Sheaghdha said that INMO members were both applauded and abandoned because that is exactly what happened. This is astonishing evidence on what happened to our front-line workers and to those to whom we are extraordinarily grateful. We face a huge challenge because we have a backlog of non-Covid-19 treatment that has to be met and we also face the possibility of another resurgence of the virus.

I ask Ms Ní Sheaghdha to state again to us that until 22 April, until the HSE removed from its website the guideline that face masks are not advisable unless one is symptomatic, face masks were not issued to healthcare workers in settings where Covid was known to be present and where they were dealing with it. Could Ms Ní Sheaghdha confirm that for me?