Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will share time with Deputy Harkin. I will use my five minutes as efficiently as I can and I will keep my questions short. It would be remiss of me not to put this into perspective. This morning, I pointed out that nursing homes did not appear in eight briefing documents produced in April, apart from two sentences. This tells me that no priority was placed on them as a concern. One mention, on 1 April, was to state that screening would be introduced twice a day for staff. Was screening introduced? How many staff have been screened? How many tests have been carried out? Tests for staff were to be prioritised. Will the Minister clarify whether, in the case of a cluster of two cases in a nursing home, no more tests are carried out? Will the Minister put this to bed and tell me it is not correct?

The Minister has mentioned he will publish the information regarding private hospitals and I welcome this. In the meantime, will the Minister clarify the following matter for me? I have received urgent representations regarding surgery from a person with cancer of the uterus. There is a delay in treatment although a diagnosis has been given. Perhaps the Minster will give me a written reply on how long people are waiting.

Deputies Joan Collins and Pringle have submitted questions on personal protection equipment, PPE. People are coming forward to state they want to work with the Government on PPE. The Minister referred to a website. Will he clarify the situation because people very much want to come forward?

I am glad that it has been clarified that those aged over 70 have not been ordered to stay at home and that it is a strong recommendation. That was not clear to them. It is time to reflect on this policy. I understand the background to it but at this point can we not reflect on it and see whether we can ease up, in the sense of telling people aged over 70, who have worked all their lives for this country, that we treasure them and want to thank them for what they have done for us and that we will share it with the younger people so that at a particular time those aged over 70 can leave their homes while the rest of us will stay inside? I really think serious consideration should be given to this.

I read the ethics document published by the Department of Health on 3 April. It is quite general and gives background. After I submitted questions to the Minister, it came to my attention in a tabloid newspaper that a points system is in operation in the Saolta hospital group in the west. Has this been brought to the Minister's attention? Is a points system in operation whereby somebody aged over 80 gets an automatic seven points? I do not want to waste time on this. Is the Minister aware of it? Has he seen the document? Is it actually happening?

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