Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for Health, the Ministers of State and the officials. In political life one is never thanked for what is done or is positive but one will always be blamed for mistakes or be questioned about them.

I have questions on the vaccine roll-out. Every dose that is administered is a positive. I know that there is a great vaccination plan that will be rolled out over the next number of weeks and months, including up to 1 million doses in April that will be administered. People over 85 and, indeed, over 70 in hospitals who await vaccination - and I am sure there are cases all over the country but I hope that it is a small number - were told following inquiries to hospital management that they must wait, that supplies are not available and that vaccination has to be done in the community. When will people over 85 and, indeed, over 70 in hospitals be vaccinated?

The community GP roll-out is going well but I understand that some GP practices have not yet received vaccine supplies. That might be a small number but I do not know. Certainly, I have been made aware of cases. As a result, their list of patients over 85 and over 70 are not getting calls but I know that neighbouring doctors are currently vaccinating patients in their 60s.

I know that at least two offshore islands - Inis Meáin of the Aran Islands and Inisbofin - have received no vaccines for people who over 75 or 85. I have advocated that we vaccinate all of the cohorts on the islands because it would be easy to vaccinate these small populations quickly.

In terms of the nursing home and healthcare sector, I wish to inquire about healthcare assistant staff. I know that the occupation list for employment is being reviewed at the moment by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Has the Minister and the Department liaised or engaged about this matter? The role is notoriously difficult to fill and requires the right candidate with a suitable skill set and caring disposition. As we know, such people might not always be available even though there is a high number of people on the live register at the moment.

Finally, I wish to refer to nurses who have left the profession for childcare purposes, etc. and have not returned to the workplace in the past five or ten years. What engagement would the Minister or the Department advocate to get some of these nurses back into front-line services? I know it is not always easy to do such work and these nurses as they get older may not be able to perform nursing duties. If these people are available but require some retraining or upskilling, can that be considered?