Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I was struck this morning while listening to the eloquence of the Taoiseach when he talked about the 445 people who, unfortunately, have lost their lives. He said they were not only statistics but that they were loved and cared for. I totally agree and our sympathy goes out to them, their families, their loved ones and friends. However, I think there is a gap between the words and the reality.

On 12 March I attended a HSE briefing with the Minister. I asked the Chief Medical Officer if we were testing people who care for the elderly in our community. Does the Minister remember the answer? He said, "We do not do that." No reason was given. He simply said, "We do not do that." I was shocked by the answer. I am still shocked by it but I also think that now we have reached the stage where the head of HIQA, Mary Dunnion, is saying that speedier testing will be of benefit. She said we are all learning as well. I put it to the Minister that we were slow learners not to have recognised at that point that the most vulnerable cohort in society, as experienced globally, are the elderly and remain the elderly. Yet, we were not testing those who care for them. I want to ask the Minister about the testing of care workers for the elderly. Are they now being tested?

Are those elderly people who are moving from a hospital situation into a care home situation being tested? I believe this was not happening, which has led to the spread of clusters in care homes which we are now seeing developing as a national emergency.

The impression is given that the 25,000 plus citizens who are in private nursing homes are somehow not responsibility of the State or the HSE. That is an impression that comes from a disjointed and fragmented system which the Minister has just admitted he wants to see ended and that the care of the elderly has to change. This did not happen by accident, however. This was the result of political decisions taken by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in previous regimes. Indeed, when Deputy Micheál Martin was Minister for Health, his regime showered developers with massive tax breaks in order to get them to invest in private care homes. It was done under Charlie McCreevy's rule as Minister for Finance at the time. The Minister should look it up. Since then, the number of care homes in private hands has mushroomed. One lesson we must learn is to move away from that system.

To hear the testimony of those working in this system on RTÉ this morning, on Facebook and other social media is heartbreaking. It is shocking that in this country, a First World country in the 21st century, we are still living in the Dark Ages when it comes to the care we give to the elderly. There is a fear out there. I am not expressing it just for myself because many people contact me about it. There is a fear that somehow there is an unwritten or deliberate policy to keep the elderly out of the hospitals. When the Taoiseach said earlier that by now we would have expected our ICU system to be full to capacity but that it is not - in fact it is far from it - perhaps it is because we are not sending those who may need ICU care from nursing homes into hospital settings. I would like the Minister to address that question because it is serious. We need assurance that there is no guidance or hidden rule that we do not take people from care homes and put them into hospitals.

In the case of the Maryborough centre, the Minister was reassured that two consultants were involved. However, he did not say how they were involved. Did they actually see the patients? Were they there physically or was the decision not to move them into more acute care taken by teleconference or some discussion over the Internet through Zoom or some other means? Those questions need to be answered.

Professor Jack Lambert of the Mater Hospital said today that the situation in nursing homes is a catastrophe in the making and is a national emergency. Will the Minister for Health respond to that statement? Will he explain how the State, or the emergency team, will respond to that statement and if they agree with it?

I understand staff are being shifted and particularly agency staff have been asked to go to these care homes. A list of 50 in the Leinster region, which urgently need staff, was published last night by certain agencies which employ nurses. The problem is that many of those staff move from nursing home to nursing home but we are still not testing them. We are still in danger of creating more clusters and more problems.

Dr. Myra Cullinane, the Dublin coroner, has said she is concerned that not all Covid-19 deaths, whether proven or suspected, are being reported according to the law. Will the Minister comment on that and tell us if he shares her concerns? Are there proposals to change regulations for those who are allowed to fill in death certificates when a death occurs?

I am all in favour of hazard payments for all health and front-line workers. However, can we start testing and protecting them, whether they are bus workers, shop workers or health workers? We are not doing that. The Taoiseach said at the highest level that he is doing his best to convince the companies which produce reagent. He is imploring and encouraging them in this regard but he is failing. The Government has emergency legislation. Will it instruct those companies to make the supply reach the need for the demand, because it is not happening fast enough?

Is the Minister now paying student nurses in placements as against those who are volunteering?

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