Ms Catherine Keogh:

I am an assistant general secretary in the Fórsa national health office. I am here with Mr. Éamonn Donnelly, our national secretary in the health division. The committee will have received our submission in advance.

The key point for Fórsa is the ripple effect infection rates among healthcare workers has had across the whole health service as we faced into the pandemic. Fórsa represents health and social care professionals including physiotherapists, orthoptists, and speech and language therapists. Our orthoptists were trained in swab testing and carried out such tests on the front line. Some were then infected with Covid and spent three months off work before returning to front-line testing straight away. We want to talk about the significant effect this had across the health sector, primarily with regard to our own grades but also for all others. A common refrain of the trade union movement is that an injury to one is an injury to all. In healthcare, particularly during a pandemic, an infection for one has an effect on everyone, both in the acute and community settings. Our submission reflects on that and on the rates of infection. I will pass over to my colleague, Mr. Donnelly, who has some opening remarks to make.