Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and all of the witnesses for their attendance here this morning. I am aware that this is a hectic and busy time for them and we very much appreciate them giving up their time to come in and explain this to us because it is critical that we get this right. Mr. McCallion covered many of the points I wanted to make about the Civil Service in general and the public service we have, the workload that they have been under for the past 18 months, and the way that they have turned things around in terms of supports and everything that has been addressed. Much of the time we do not give enough credit for the workload that has been undertaken across the Departments with cyberattacks and everything else thrown into the mix. I thank them for that.

A helpline will be critical in the first couple of days and week of this and while the Department has probably taken this into account, I ask that this might be very well resourced and operating from 6 a.m. until midnight and not a nine-to-five type of thing. I can see Ms Canavan throwing her eyes to heaven at this suggestion. I have just complimented the staff and I am now putting them under more pressure. Such a helpline is going to be critical as I foresee hiccups along the way with all those sort of things like wrong email addresses, spam, where my number or letter is, etc.

I have question about a family who were vaccinated in the US and who have subsequently moved back to Wicklow. What exactly do they need to provide by way of proof to get their digital certificate? We need to be very clear on that. That covers my questions and I thank our guest witnesses for their time again.