Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am mindful today that, in raising the matter of the health of front-line workers, in my constituency the lives of two healthcare workers in St. Luke's hospital, Kilkenny, were taken this week by this virus. I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to the families, the colleagues and the friends of the people who tragically died. May they rest in peace. Their passing brings into sharp focus the daily risk faced by our healthcare and front-line workers here and across the world. Many have lost their lives trying to save the lives of others. Their selfless actions need to be met by all of us through collectively acting to stop the spread of the virus in our community. While gestures of solidarity such as shining a light, putting out flags and rounds of applause are important and appreciated by our front-line workers, the most effective thing we can do is to stick rigidly to the plan, stay at home and maintain social distancing.

At a later date, when we leave the eye of the storm, we might consider holding a national day of reflection on the sacrifices of our front-line workers, but for now we mourn their loss and we thank them for their work.

In light of the events of this week I wish to focus on the employee assistance and counselling service, EACS. This is a free, HSE-funded service in the community, hospital and health settings. I pay tribute to the team within the EACS programme, a small but dedicated team that offers a broad range of counselling and psychological support services to HSE staff at all levels. These range from psychological first aid, an important check-in service to front-line workers, to more structured video and telephone counselling in accordance with social distancing. It is clear that the well-being of staff is placed in high regard, not just during this crisis but at all times. It is important that the Minister addresses the gaps that exist in this excellent service. If there are geographic areas not covered by the EACS, it is vitally important that these resourcing issues are addressed. It is important that the hybrid model of staff well-being under the EACS, which draws on the resources of external counsellors to provide 24-7 services, is available and, critically, is communicated to staff in every hospital and facility in the State.

Critical incident stress management is another important area and is core to the interdisciplinary approach to staff well-being. A constant process of checking in with staff seems to me to be very important. It is about embedding resilience in the system to minimise burnout and undue stress.

It is important to highlight the availability of such vital services, to thank all of those involved in supporting their coworkers and to ask for the gaps to be filled and for sufficient resources to be made available regardless of geographic area. The use of local community and voluntary services could be of assistance to those in the wider community. This could be co-ordinated by local community response teams, liaising with community call teams in each local authority area. Local community and voluntary mental health and bereavement support services could offer additional services to families who have been bereaved, either because of the coronavirus or other causes, and are unable to celebrate the life of a loved one due to current restrictions. In advocating a role for the community-based support service I must once again stress the importance of keeping the doors of our voluntary services open, given that fundraising opportunities for such services have all but dried up since the crisis hit. These services are vital if we are to emerge from the health and social care phase of this pandemic.

I also wish to raise the issue of masks. There are now hundreds of groups drawn from Suas, the Irish Countrywomen's Association, ICA, and other community organisations throughout the country who are making homemade cotton masks for free distribution. The World Health Organization, WHO, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control have endorsed the role of masks in reducing infection. Countries such as Taiwan and Vietnam have vastly lower numbers of infections than neighbouring countries, due in some part to the wearing of masks. I am of the view that the wearing of masks could help gradually to ease the restrictions and I ask for clear guidance on this from the Government.

Finally, I continue to wish the Taoiseach and our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Tony Holohan, and the Government well in their continued work. I appreciate the cross-party support.

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