Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise sincerely. I have had a few IT glitches, but the good old mobile phone is picking up where the laptop failed, so all is good. I can hear the Chairman and I have been following the debate so I thank him for allowing me in. I have a few points I wish to put to our panel of witnesses. I join others in welcoming them today.

A big feature of the first wave of Covid was that GPs were not going into private nursing homes. It was simply, in their view, too risky to be going into them, offering a level of GP care and then risking transmitting the virus within the broader community. Of course, there has been a significant ramping up of vaccinations since early January. I wish to ask our witnesses whether that has improved. Are the medical needs of people in private nursing homes now being fully met when a GP locally is required to be on site? Are GPs coming in? Can they come in? Is all that being facilitated on site and off site?