Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yes, it is for ten minutes.

I thank the witnesses for attending. I thank them for the work they and their members are doing in what some would describe as challenging circumstances and I would describe as disgraceful circumstances. They are no less worthy of applause than other front-line workers.

On the point raised by Ms King on making Covid-19 a notifiable disease, I welcome the support for doing so expressed by Deputies this morning. If the Tánaiste is minded to make the requisite changes, I have legislation which I published in June which will ensure this is done. I look forward to support for this from Members right across the House. There is general agreement that if one contracts Covid in the workplace, it should be treated as a workplace injury. I do not know what all the ducking and diving on the part of the Government is about. I suspect I know what it is about but I am not prepared to go in to it here as it would not be helpful to do so. I have the legislation published and I welcome support for it right across the House.

We know the turnaround times for test results are going down but we also know that this is primarily because the turnaround time includes healthcare workers whose tests are processed on site. This is dragging down the numbers. In the meat processing sector, what is the wait time for results? What happens when a worker is called for a test? Is the worker permitted to self-isolate, as we have been advised to do? Are such workers given a place to self-isolate? Are they provided with money to ensure they and their families can survive that time?