Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be sharing time with Deputy Butler. I have four questions, which I will give the Minister and we will see what we can get done in five minutes.

First, I would like to hear the Minister's thoughts on the fatality rate. We are all agreed that extraordinary efforts are being made by the State, the HSE, and every individual and family around the country. Unfortunately, the fatality rate for Covid-19 in Ireland is about 90 people per million. We rank tenth compared to other countries in the OECD. While the data are not perfect by any stretch, the fatality rates in Germany, Norway and Finland are about half, one third, and one eighth of ours, respectively. Although the data are not perfect, they are probably directionally correct, in that some comparable countries, in spite of our very best efforts, have significantly fewer people dying per million of population. Are the Government and the Department looking at this? Are we looking at what other countries that have a much lower fatality rate are doing, to see if there is anything more we can do? Are they doing things that we are not? Can we learn from them and get this fatality rate as low as possible?

My second question is a brief one, regarding the current assessment of the reproduction rate. Can the Minister tell us what that rate is, and if he has the information available, can he also tell us where reproduction is happening? For example, if the number is around one, is half of it happening in homes or nursing homes? How much of it is happening through social distancing? Can the Minister give us a sense of where the transmission is happening?

My third question relates to nursing homes. It is clear that nursing homes are in the middle of their own crisis within a broader one. Very important supports have been promised to them. Two weeks ago, the HSE told the health spokespeople that staff would be deployed to nursing homes, including clinical staff. The Minister himself made a big announcement of financial supports on 4 April. Promises were made regarding PPE, as well as commitments to make sure testing happened much quicker for residents and staff and that contact tracing would back that up. To date, in spite of what I am sure are everybody's very best efforts, many of these supports have not materialised. PPE is patchy. One manager described it to me today as a lucky dip; that one does not get what one ordered.

Regarding financial supports, not only has a single euro not arrived at any of the nursing homes, but they are telling me that they have not had any communication from any arm of the State to tell them when it might happen and what the guidelines for those supports might be.

In terms of staff, my understanding is that, in cases of extreme emergency where nursing homes have no one left for a night or day shift, the CHOs are managing to deploy some staff. However, the promise of many staff being made available has not been met. Nursing homes are finding themselves without staff. Yesterday, RTÉ reported that nursing homes were facing entire shifts with no staff.

I am also hearing from nursing homes that it is taking up to two weeks for test results. Over the past two or three weeks, the nursing homes that I have spoken to have said that there has been no contact tracing.

We all want this to happen urgently. Why has it not happened so far? When are the nursing homes going to see a real difference on the ground where they need it?

I wish to raise the issue of the non-Covid-19 fatality rate. New analysis shows that non-Covid-19 fatalities in March and April are up considerably on previous years. This might be happening for many reasons, but I am concerned that we have empty private hospitals. Doctors are telling me about empty operating theatres. Many surgeons and their teams who want to treat people must essentially sit on their hands.

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