Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Mar a tharlaíonn ar laethanta eile, smaoinímid inniu ar dóibh siúd a fuair bás, daoine a raibh saol agus scéalta acu agus ar bhain tábhacht agus brí lena saolta. Cuimhneofar orthu. Tá an Rialtas buíoch de chuile dhuine atá ag obair go dian chun dul i ngleic leis an gcoróinvíreas. Tá siad ag glacadh a bpáirt sa ghéarchéim seo. Má tá daoine ag glacadh páirt tríd a gcuid oibre nó má tá siad ag fanacht sa bhaile, tá torthaí ar ár gcomhiarracht agus táimid ag cur an aicíd faoi chois. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil na teorainneacha deacair agus go bhfuil sé bearránach ach caithfimid leanúint ar aghaidh. Tá muid faoi chomaoin acu siúd atá ag obair chun dul i ngleic leis an víreas seo gach lá agus ag cuimhne na ndaoine a fuair bás. Tá muid faoi chomaoin ag ár bpobal féin.

I offer my condolences to all of those who have lost loved ones since we last met, to everyone grieving as best they can in most difficult circumstances. As of last night, we had 976 Covid-19 deaths confirmed by laboratory. A further 214 deaths are suspected, giving us a likely overall figure of 1,190. Of laboratory-confirmed cases, 453 died in hospitals, 430 in long-term care settings, including nursing homes, and 93 at home. Of the total deaths, 697 had been residents in long-term care. This is a tapestry of sorrow, suffering and loss for our nation.

As always, we are grateful for the extraordinary work of our nurses, our doctors and our healthcare staff, who are giving their all to save lives and are bringing us through the worst of this emergency. As a country, we owe so much to so many and when this is over we will have the opportunity to thank them properly.

I know the lockdown is difficult and people are feeling frustrated, cooped up, even trapped, but we must keep doing what we are doing because it is working. We owe it to those who are fighting the virus every day and we owe it to the memory of those who have been lost. As a country, we owe it to each other.

People want to know when things are going to go back to new normal. I can inform the Dáil that a plan is being developed to ease the lockdown, a roadmap to reopen Ireland, a roadmap to what will be a new normal. Unfortunately for those who would like an immediate return to a pre-Covid-19 world, the easement of the current restrictions will be slow and gradual and will be done in a stepwise, tiered manner. It will require continuous effort to suppress and control the virus. Therefore, the lifting of restrictions will not necessarily mirror the manner in which they were escalated.

Public health and safety and our healthcare capacity will continue to be the foundation for decision making. Our five criteria are as follows: the progress of the disease, healthcare capacity and resilience, testing and contact tracing capacity, the ability to shield and care for at-risk groups and the risk of secondary morbidity and mortality due to the restrictions themselves.

As we manage the gradual lifting of restrictions, we will prioritise public health advice and give careful consideration on how best to mitigate and manage the economic and other health and social impacts.

Any changes to the restrictions will be made every two to four weeks because we need to leave a period between changes to assess accurately their impact, but we will intervene earlier if things appear to be going off track. Restrictions may have to be reintroduced if it looks as if the virus is going to surge back. We expect to have this plan completed tomorrow for approval by Cabinet. I thank the party leaders for their inputs yesterday and I welcome the views of Deputies here today. I want to find a consensus, if one exists.

It has always been my assessment that we have been fighting Covid-19 on six fronts: by ensuring we have sufficient personal protective equipment, PPE, to make sure our staff are protected; through testing and tracing; by ensuring we have sufficient ICU capacity, hospital beds and ventilators; through the economic and welfare package to protect business incomes and livelihoods; through societal actions, such as social distancing; and by protecting vulnerable groups, including people in care homes, prisoners, Travellers, Roma, the homeless and those in asylum seeker accommodation centres. It never was, nor ever should be, a case of prioritising one of these over another. We must fight the virus on all six fronts every day and deal with the new challenges that arise.

As the World Health Organization states, countries need to have a comprehensive strategy and Ireland's has been comprehensive, far-reaching and inclusive. More than 150,000 tests for Covid-19 have been carried out in Ireland. That places Ireland sixth out of the 27 EU countries on a per capitabasis and that is now a higher number than in many countries that have led the way on testing, such as Germany, South Korea and Singapore. We will continue to increase capacity and improve turnaround times but there will be bumps in the road. I thank all the staff involved, including the GPs and occupational healthcare staff who are assessing people for tests and counselling them on the results. There is an extraordinary team effort in our testing centres, including people in administration, swab-takers, medical scientists and staff in our laboratories doing the tests and the IT professionals and managers who make sure all of it comes together. I thank them all.

There has been much public focus on nursing homes recently, and rightly so. This is an area in which much work has been going on behind the scenes for a considerable period to protect as many people as possible. Ireland took the lead in deciding to test asymptomatic residents and staff in nursing homes where there has been an outbreak and other countries are now following suit. From the very start, we counted nursing home deaths alongside hospital deaths every day, and I see other countries are now starting to do that as well. In recent weeks, we have provided a funding package for nursing homes and deliveries of PPE are now regular. A total of 558 deliveries of PPE are now happening daily, three quarters of which go to nursing homes and long-term care homes. There are now 23 community response teams in operation across the country and they are being helped in their work by 16 infection prevention and control staff. Approximately 200 HSE staff have been redeployed to private nursing home facilities and home care workers and home care hours are being redeployed to long-term care. We have an agreement with unions to allow HSE staff to work in nursing homes. It is voluntary, but we are asking people to volunteer to help out and take up posts in nursing homes.

The Government has taken a focused approach towards vulnerable groups, including homeless people, Travellers, Roma, drug users, prisoners and residents in Department of Justice and Equality accommodation centres. This involves testing, treating, isolating and cocooning, as well as tending to other health conditions. I have met and spoken to many people in organisations that are caring for these groups and am satisfied that we have a robust and well-resourced response in place.

There has been much debate about comparisons with cases, deaths and death rates in other countries. On the face of it, we compare well with our neighbourhood in western Europe but not so well with other parts of the world. However, the more I study these figures, the more it seems that the data are not yet comparable. In fact, the data are not even comparable between the North and the South on this island. Countries are at different stages in the pandemic. Some have peaked and others have not. Some parts of the world, including eastern Europe and much of the southern hemisphere, appear to have been barely affected by the virus so far - and I hope that does not change - while western Europe, China and the United States have been the epicentres. The scale of testing also varies greatly. Our policy is to test, test, test, and we are in the top tier of countries in that regard. Countries also vary in their demographic make-up and different countries count data differently.

Our policy is to count all cases, including laboratory-confirmed and suspected, and all locations, including hospitals, care homes and private homes. We also count all cases regardless of whether there is an underlying condition that may have been the main cause of death. We are only one of four European countries that does so, to the best of our knowledge. The only truly comparable data will be mortality displacement figures, what are often called excess deaths. We may not have these figures for some months. In any case, it is not a competition. Every country is doing its best in difficult circumstances and different circumstances.

I am increasingly concerned that some people who need medical care are not seeking it. I met a GP in DCU yesterday at one of our community assessment hubs. He said he had not diagnosed anyone in his practice with cancer for a month. He had never experienced that before. We know cancer has not gone away. Perhaps people are afraid of contracting Covid-19. Perhaps they do not want to be a burden on our hard-pressed healthcare staff. My message today to everyone, however, is to seek help if you need it. GP surgeries are open, emergency departments are open, and ambulances are operating. Please seek medical attention if you need it.

It is now seven weeks since I announced the first actions we were taking to slow the virus in its tracks and push it back. I said then that acting together as one nation we could save many lives. By staying apart we have come together as a nation and we have saved many lives but we are not out of danger yet. More lives are at risk and we cannot falter now. In the days to come we will provide a pathway for how we will emerge from this crisis and give hope to people that there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it cannot be false hope. We are still in the tunnel and we have some distance to go. As before, I look forward to hearing Members' observations and suggestions.

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