Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As I have only four minutes to speak, the Minister will forgive me if I do not dwell on the niceties. However, I thank the staff who are at the coalface. It is important to keep a balance during this crisis. At the end of the day, we are talking about a virus where over 80% of people who are infected will only suffer mild to moderate effects. While this is not to lessen it in any way, we need to keep it in perspective.

The crisis has focused our attention on a number of issues. One is the issue of workers being advised to self-isolate without any clarity whatsoever in regard to their pay. The second is the issue of the washing of hands and the fact that, in this country, we have got to the stage where we need to be directed as to how to wash our hands with soap, which is worthy of consideration. I heard the term "respiratory etiquette" being used. We need to update our respiratory etiquette, which, in itself, is a message.

We then look at the Minister's message, which comes from the establishment, as it were. The Minister has to learn the lesson from the cervical smear scandal that we need to give out as much information as possible, stop being patriarchal and realise that information is power. Information empowers people, so we must give out the maximum amount of it.

The state of the health service has been brought into acute focus. Earlier today, I read some of a letter from Fórsa. I want to put this in perspective in regard to Galway, where I understand there are four cases in the regional hospital. I see no difficulty in naming that hospital. In fact, I think it helps to empower people to know that the hospital is able to cope, and the effort should be in regard to telling us that the hospital is able to cope. As I understand it, four cases have been brought to the attention of the hospital. Whether they are in the hospital or not, I do not know, but it should be clarified whether they are and, if so, whether they are in isolation. I understand they are not from Galway but from outside the county. Maximum information is very important, particularly in regard to Galway city. As the Minister knows, Galway is in serious crisis and the hospital has a serious shortage of beds and staff on every level, including ICU beds.

We then come to the Fórsa letter. The Minister advises people not to go to the hospital and to stay at home, and to go to their GP or to get the GP to come to them. We see that that system is crumbling. Fórsa uses the most forceful language I have ever seen in my life. I am going to give the Minister a copy of the letter, which is three pages long and dated 4 March. It states that more patients will end up in hospital for longer because they cannot be discharged, and that the scale of closure orders in regard to primary care centres is a significant shock to the overall system in the west and also unprecedented. I am reading this letter again, as I did this morning. It states: "I have not witnessed that scale of service closure in my two decades as a trade union official". That is a letter worth looking at.

When the Minister talks about building confidence and encouraging us, the best way to do that is to acknowledge the crisis that exists in our health service and in primary care. Let us have a clear, honest information package in regard to what is going on, such as the embargo that is not an embargo and all of the posts that are not filled. Let us acknowledge that first and then, when we are trying to build confidence among people, give them maximum information on how a hospital will cope. Today, there are 36 people on trolleys in Galway and the figure was 26 yesterday and 32 the day before. Mr. Reid, who is in charge of the HSE, tells us we are facing a potentially unprecedented health situation arising from the virus. I say we were facing that prior to the virus.

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