Dr. Lorraine Doherty:

I thank the Deputy very much for his question. It is very important to try to understand why healthcare workers are becoming infected. Under Dr. Cuddihy and myself, the HPSC has commissioned a study with UCD which will involve an enhanced investigation of more than 400 healthcare worker infections. This is quite an intensive study as it will involve interviewing all of those healthcare workers to determine exactly what their practice was in their particular healthcare setting, what PPE was available, how they were trained to use it, and how they applied the use of PPE and hand hygiene. When the results of this study are available, towards the end of August, they will give us vital information and will help us to identify areas in which we might need to take further action to prevent the infection of healthcare workers and to support them in their practice in preventing infections.