Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a couple of questions and comments myself. Ms Hegarty spoke about how Chicago suppressed the 1918 pandemic with targeted measures, including building inspectors who signed off on ventilation as a condition of trading, and the city reopened within six weeks. Here we are 100 years later and we are almost starting again, going by some of the evidence that was given today. There was some mention of the situation in Australia. We are aware of the strict quarantines involved there. Regarding the Irish quarantine, I am conscious that we are taking away people's liberties because of the health concerns. Are the witnesses aware of particular criteria, especially related to ventilation, in some of the hotels selected so far? Has that come into consideration when a hotel is assessed? We have all stayed in hotels where, for instance, the windows did not open, so one relied primarily on the air conditioning and so on. Are the witnesses aware of that as an issue? Regarding the strict approach taken in Australia, the witnesses have mentioned the fire doors, and how that trapped the air within that corridor. Do the witnesses have any recommendations for that?

I do not know what the witnesses' experience of most aeroplanes is, but many of them are fairly dirty, and filthy in some cases. It is a while since I have been on a plane. After getting off a plane, you usually have a cold or something else a couple of days later. It is down to people sneezing or coughing on the planes and down to the ventilation systems. The witnesses said there had to be an independent verification system. Maybe they will expand on that.

The figures at the start of Ms Hegarty's opening statement state that half of the people who died were infected in 0.3% of the buildings. Over half of workplace outbreaks have been in just 150 buildings. One in four school buildings have been affected. It has been mentioned that we are at the end of the road with Covid. I do not think so if we are talking about one in four school buildings having a Covid-19 index case in the last four months. Would the witnesses accept that we need to be much more targeted, especially in those 150 buildings? I imagine that if I knew where those 150 buildings were, I would be a bit wary of going in and out of them. I presume some are hospitals and nursing homes. Do the witnesses think it would be helpful for people to be able to make those judgments? Do they think there should be some sort of targeted intervention now, at this stage, when we are rolling out the vaccine? I do not think this is going away any time soon and we may face another wave. If we have buildings where there is a particular problem, should there be some sort of focus on those buildings?

The witnesses mentioned the schools. It makes sense to have some sort of supports for those schools from the Department, especially where there is overcrowding in the classroom and for the old buildings. Do the witnesses have recommendations for some sort of fund for schools? They mentioned the carbon dioxide meter. Is that a minimum that they are saying should be introduced in schools?