Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for attending this session. I compliment him and his staff on the work they are doing and I wish them well. Taking the Kildare example, if the Minister was to identify a single issue that might have contributed to the upsurge in Kildare, what would it be? Would it be a lack of attention to social distancing or, given that the pubs are not open and will not open in the near future, house parties or was it a lack of attention to hand hygiene and so on? I would welcome a response from the Minister on that question.

Given that we are facing into the winter, and arising from the possibility that a single issue was a contributory factor in the recent outbreak in the midlands-Kildare and adjoining counties, can the Minister be certain of the ability of the system to deal with any further outbreaks that might occur in the community, in schools or adjacent to schools, in clusters or in meat factories and does it have the capacity to do so quickly?

A number of people have raised the question about the pubs. I acknowledge what has been said. In the absence of pubs as a social centre for the public there is a tendency for people to seek alternative locations that are not under any control. What does the Minister say to the publicans who say they can achieve social distancing without any difficulty? There will be some pubs that cannot do so but those that can are prepared to provide a service that is supervised as opposed to unsupervised and, as a result, safer places for social outlets for the public. What does the Minister say to their submission?

My final point is in regard to the winter plan, special needs children and the ability to provide the necessary services for them, particularly in regard to children with autism. There is strong evidence to suggest that owing to the lack of speech and language therapy, for example, their condition has deteriorated sharply. To what extent can the Minister address that in the short to medium term and does he intend to do so?