Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

What about the employment of consultants? I said this earlier but not in the Dáil. We have no Ehlers-Danlos syndrome consultant. For two years they have been looking to replace the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome consultant. When will we have one?

I have a second question. Perhaps Mr. Woods can answer both together. It relates to our personal protective equipment if we have another outbreak. I have brought this to the HSE and the Government. There is a company within Limerick that produces PPE. The company is in talks with the HSE about putting a machine into the factory. It would employ 40 extra jobs in Limerick and would be self-contained from a manufacturing point of view for PPE. Not only would it increase jobs but it would mean that we have a constant supply of PPE if there is another pandemic. It would mean the HSE would have PPE on a cost-neutral basis after three years. This has been on the table and has been brought to the Dáil and the HSE. It needs to happen now in case the pandemic happens. It needs to be put in place. It is a common-sense approach. It is all done within the Irish system, including the manufacturing. As all raw materials will be produced on site, we will never have to be without masks again, like we were before.