Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Social Democrats support the health measures set out in this legislation. The measures are largely technical and facilitate good practice in the response that is required. Several issues should be included but have not been covered by the legislation. A point made by several Members to date is the whole question of trainee nurses' pay and the need to ensure that is addressed quickly. People have been extraordinary in the way they have come forward to support the national effort but it is really important that everything be done to maintain morale among people. That is an obvious point that needs to be addressed.

There are also issues relating to differentials between healthcare staff in the public and private sectors. Now that we have a single-tier service, for the time being anyway, issues arise about differentials affecting those who have come from the private sector, who would generally be on a lower rate of pay than those in the public sector. There needs to be some equalising.

Another issue that has been brought to our attention by several groups, including the Irish Family Planning Association, is the position of the current rules around abortions. The current rules are effectively unworkable in the present circumstances with regard to the three-day wait periods and the need for repeat visits. This should be dispensed with for the duration of the emergency. I hope this will receive early attention because it is a real and present issue.

Another issue of concern is what is happening on construction sites.

I have been told that just outside my constituency in north Dublin there is a site which has 1,000 workers on it. There are significant issues on construction sites, including a lack of proper health and safety measures and social distancing and the sharing of tools and small confined spaces. This is a recipe for disaster. Similar issues are arising in some factories and large companies. Someone got in touch with me to say that apprentice solicitors in a large legal firm are being required to work from the premises and not respect social distancing. All of these issues need to be tackled.

Who is responsible for policing or overseeing the guidelines and strong advice in respect of social distancing? We are receiving complaints about these types of issues and it is hard to know who to contact that will be in a position to intercede and address the matter. It would be very helpful if we have responses on this and there was a targeted approach to the various workplaces where large numbers of people are congregating.

Part 5 of the Bill refers to mental health. If this provision is to be reviewed or extended, it should be done with the approval of the House and not just laid before the House. That is important because the extension of emergency powers is a very serious issue and should come before the House.

The changes in case definition which occurred in the past couple of days is a major change in policy, and is something which is confusing and causing concern for many people. We need to redouble our efforts in terms of communicating very clearly why the change in policy has occurred. Up to now we have been told that we must test, test, test and trace. That policy cannot be pursued in the context of large numbers of people not having access to tests. I appreciate that the low positive rate of the tests that were being done, at just over 6%, meant there was a need for a change in strategy, but the other side is that we are in a situation whereby one in four healthcare workers have tested positive. That is an intolerable situation for them and the health service generally in terms of its ability to respond to this crisis.

At the root of this is, I believe, the shortage of personal protective equipment, PPE. That is the single most urgent issue that needs to be addressed. We have been told that various shipments are coming into the country. There is no room for delay and we must redouble efforts to acquire as much of this equipment as possible. Ideally, some of it could be manufactured here. That is the single most important thing to protect our healthcare workers and enable us to get back to a situation whereby we are doing adequate amounts of testing and tracing.

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