Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the contributors and pay tribute to Ms Murphy and all her colleagues for putting themselves in harm's way in very difficult circumstances to protect all of us over recent months. It seems from what the witnesses are telling us that the rhetoric we heard about the wonderful work of healthcare workers has not been matched by supporting front-line workers such as Ms Murphy in the way they should be supported. Listening to the witnesses' contributions, I find it shocking and frightening that they seem to be saying that healthcare workers on the front line are working unsafe hours with unsafe staffing levels and are being put under pressure to go to work even when they have underlying conditions, or for financial reasons. If that persists, we are in deep trouble if there is a second wave, as is likely, in the autumn. Is that a fair assessment of what the witnesses are telling us? I would like to hear from Ms Murphy on this. Does she feel the lessons are being learnt about what happened to her and the experience she has gone through? Are she and her colleagues prepared and, most important, are the HSE giving them the support to be prepared for what is coming in the autumn?