Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I want to take the opportunity to express our sympathies to the families of all those who have died during the pandemic, some of whom could not be with their loved ones at this critical and sad time. This makes it so much more difficult. The number of deaths in recent days is a stark reminder that the virus is still in a very active phase.

We are being informed that the numbers can be accounted for by delayed notification of deaths but there are grounds for doubting that this is the only reason. While there are positive signs regarding the occupancy of ICUs and the number of people who have been hospitalised in comparison with what it might have been, a particular source of concern is the nursing home sector. Many of those who have died did so in nursing homes, where there continues to be a critical issue in terms of the prevalence of cases and the ability to manage them in light of the availability of nurses and carers. Many nursing homes have staff who are ill and some are in hospital. The individuals in question are doing their absolute best to provide care, often to people who they have been looking after for years and who they care deeply about. However, additional staff are needed.

The testing regime has been particularly problematic. In the absence of comprehensive testing, it was impossible to know who needed to be isolated. We have been told in recent days that the illness presents differently in older people so those who were not obvious cases were not picked up. Having talked to some staff and owners of nursing homes, I know they are shocked at how fast residents are succumbing to the virus. There has been an escalation in the number of deaths. We only have to look at the death notices to see that. While I do not do so routinely, I am looking at those notices at the moment. The position is quite shocking and it makes me question what we are being told in regard to these being deaths that happened several weeks ago.

The big ask is for staff for the floor, namely, for nurses and carers. These have been promised and the funding is there, but I am told it is not happening at the coalface. I have been talking to owners of nursing homes who tell me they are spending hours on the phone trying to get staff. If they were being provided with staff, or if there was a level of co-ordination to deal with this, they would not be doing that. Will the Taoiseach address this issue specifically? Staff can only work 16-hour days for so long, and that is what is happening at present.

A second issue on which we expected to see progress is childcare arrangements for front-line healthcare workers. While this has to occur in a safe manner, which I accept, there may be several solutions. We need the Taoiseach to give us some sort of indication of what the thinking is, what options might be available and whether parallel planning is occurring in terms of working with the childcare sector to match childcare workers with healthcare staff.

Direct provision is an area about which I have deep concerns. We have seen at least one confirmed outbreak following the distribution of a group of asylum seekers from a centre in Dublin to another centre in Kerry, despite the group having been exposed to a confirmed case. Surely, herding groups of people around like this, when they really have no choice in the matter, is against public health advice. It is difficult to see how that movement can be described as being in any way different to people going from one part of the country to another over the Easter weekend, for example, when there was a concern that individuals were going on holiday. That needs to be dealt with and we need to have an explanation as to why it is happening. There are also many other concerns regarding direct provision, such as people sharing rooms and having to buy sanitary materials.

If we are to get to grips with this virus and plan a transition out of the lockdown, it cannot be done unless we set some tests against which we plan that exit. Have those tests been set? A robust and comprehensive testing and tracing regime is essential and, again, we need to see the capacity. Is the modelling being done in the context of widening the definitions and how might that impact on the capacity? Given the speed at which this virus infects people, the Covid-19 app that is being developed might be very significant in the context of contact tracing, but it will come with a cost in terms of privacy and, ultimately, uptake.

If there is a doubt about its use and if there is a lack of transparency, there will not be the uptake. It requires a critical mass and that will not happen unless there is public trust. This is a measure one would not see except in the most extreme situations in which we now find ourselves. The public have to buy into what it is, how it is working, why it is being used and how it will be decommissioned. That is important. This could be a very useful tool if that public trust can be gained but that very much depends on how it is handled.

Another critical area we will have to consider is availability of hospital capacity, staffing and personal protection equipment, PPE. We hear yet again today concerns about the unusability of some PPE that has been provided. We will have to see also in that modelling a reducing of level of infection.

We need to hear about the kind of planning that is under way and the public need to hear that. Who is involved in the process, who is being consulted and what is the likely sequencing, while also acknowledging that health is the ultimate reference point for that? That is part of the reason some of us have sought more involvement in transition plans and a different involvement for the Dáil. The Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution is a very good example of where a cross-party group could get to grips with a complex issue and be helpful. We have got to do things differently.

We have a huge economic crisis because of the virus that cannot be fully evaluated in the absence of knowing how this virus will act and how it ultimately will be tamed. There is a third component, however, and that is one of social cohesion. While the public have been magnificent in the part they have played, that cannot be taken for granted. The public are central players. They have been passive because that is what they have been asked to do but their involvement in unravelling this in an organised and safe way requires their consent and requires public discussion and debate. It involves this Parliament not reverting to a traditional adversarial style of politics. A totally new approach is required, at least in the short term.

With respect to the economy, any transition arrangements will need to bring on board and engage employer groups and trade unions but there is also a whole cohort of people in the gig economy - workers who are not organised - who need to be involved. In many ways, the public have been way ahead on this issue and on what needs to be done. They were calling for school closures before the school closures happened. They were calling for the cancellation of events like the St. Patrick's Day Festival before they happened. They were largely appalled that the Cheltenham Festival went ahead. They are asking questions now about ports and airports and how they are managed. There is a complete understanding that goods have to come in and out of the country and there must be some movement but how they are being managed is an issue that has to be got to grips with.

None of us envisaged the voluntary lockdown, which was responded to extremely well. We had hoped that the powers that we passed in this House would not have to be used but, understanding what happened around Easter, they had to be used. The gardaí did what they have done in the full knowledge that policing is done by consent and that is largely how we have seen that happen. There have been a couple of incidents that would be of concern. One was referred to by Deputy Martin in respect of the Debenhams employees but the other about the contrast with the courts is a serious source of concern. That is the kind of issue about which there will be public discontent.

We know there is a Cabinet sub-committee. Other Members referred to that, but we need to know much more. There needs to be much heavier involvement, drawing in expertise but involving the public in that debate. Otherwise, there will be a breakdown of the consent that exists and which is so necessary in dealing with this pandemic.

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