Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ar dtús báire, déanaim comhbhrón le teaghlaigh gach aon duine a fuair bás de dheasca an choróinvíris. Is géarchéim uafásach í seo ó thaobh cúrsaí sláinte de agus, gan amhras, ó thaobh geilleagair na tíre chomh maith. Tá an-chuid daoine dífhostaithe agus is léir go mbeidh dúshlán ollmhór romhainn amach sa todhchaí. Táimid fíorbhuíoch do gach aon duine atá ag obair sna seirbhísí sláinte agus sna seirbhísí eile a bhfuil tábhacht faoi leith ag baint leo, mar shampla, siopaí agus monarchana éagsúla. An rud is tábhachtaí ar fad ná soiléiriú a thabhairt i gcónaí maidir le gach gné den ghéarchéim seo. Mar shampla, cá bhfuil na clusters éagsúla lonnaithe? An bhfuil fadhbanna faoi leith in áiteanna nó ionaid faoi leith? Is ceisteanna tábhachtacha iad sin agus táimid ag lorg níos mó soiléiriú ar cheisteanna den saghas sin.

Our first thoughts today must be with the 1,190 families who have lost a loved one during this pandemic. Their suffering and the struggles of thousands more who have required urgent care are a reminder to us all that this pandemic has been every bit as serious as we feared. This unique and terrible crisis has required an exceptional response, not only here but throughout most of the world. It is another proof of how much we rely on each other locally, nationally and internationally.

Throughout the past two months ever part of our society has played a role in the response to the pandemic and has felt its impact. I believe that the resolve to do everything possible remains strong. No one believes that the threat is gone and no one expects a rapid reversal of every control measure. However, there is a real and growing uncertainty, and for many a deep unease, founded on the lack of clarity about the next steps. The Government should never forget that Dáil Éireann, much of the media and of course the people have been willing to suspend much of the assertive oversight which a free democracy like ours insists on. This should not be taken as permission to limit debate and expect that people will simply wait to be told what they may be allowed to know.

In fact, the only reasonable response to the controls we have collectively accepted on our rights is for Government actually to increase transparency and meaningful consultation. Every significant study ever undertaken on the response to emergencies has shown that trust depends on transparency and that effectiveness depends on allowing different voices into discussions.

I have consistently said this from the beginning in terms of the location of clusters, for example. Six or seven weeks ago, I would have identified problems in the health care settings, particularly in nursing homes. Likewise, I identified other centres such as meat plants and particular locations. In other countries, the incident rates for district by district are just published. There does not seem to be any negative pushback or fall back as a result of that. That should be done here because it might positively impact on human behaviour. Trust depends on transparency and effectiveness.

As we continue to move away from the initial and the most severe phase of responding to the pandemic, there are many hundreds of decisions to be taken which will impact on the health and livelihood of different sectors and communities. They must be given a proper role in discussions. It is simply not good enough that announcements are made by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs about childcare services without meaningful consultation with the childcare sector. It is not good enough that the nursing home sector is not formally represented in key discussions.

I must add a point about the pay deals with the nursing unions already agreed. Apparently the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has no problem with this. However, for some reason, there has been a delay in following through on payments. These agreements are from last year but, apparently, have not followed through yet. The nursing unions have made representations to us in this regard. Given the role the nursing profession has played in this crisis, it is difficult to comprehend why those pay deals have not been honoured and delivered upon.

It is not acceptable that, in area after area, there are background briefings about what is expected to be decided but the relevant groups of employers, managers and workers have not been brought into the discussion to help shape decisions. No one is expecting a perfect response and everybody accepts the pressures under which key parts of the public service are working. However, the spirit of common purpose is not being used enough. Critical discussions simply have to be more systematically opened up to inclusive participation.

As matters stand today, there is widespread unease about the lack of clarity on the basis upon which decisions will be taken. This is not the same as a demand for certain decisions. Simply, it is a wish to be told in direct terms what the triggers are for certain key policy decisions. Such clarity has been provided by Governments in many countries. Last week, the Taoiseach said in response to the Dáil asking for clarity that decisions on lifting restrictions will be taken in light of three general considerations, epidemiology, hospital and intensive care unit capacity, as well as the ability to test and trace quickly. Yesterday, party leaders were told in unequivocal terms that testing is now not an issue in terms of the lifting of restrictions. It was in response to a question put by Deputy Kelly. We need a bit more clarity on that, given what has been said to date on this.

The premature announcement of testing capacity in the past was acknowledged. However, we have been told the capacity is in place to carry out more testing and will be in place later in May. We were also told that, while hospitals are operating well within capacity, as well as at a capacity which other countries have seen as providing for possible increases in Covid-19 cases, there is a desire to be careful on this front which I understand.

Where there is no clarity is what the triggers will be regarding epidemiology. The reproduction number has been below one for some weeks. Public information suggests that the main concern is hotspots rather than broader community spread.

We need more information and more answers about the impact of decisions taken regarding the pandemic response on other health issues. In recent days, doctors in many countries, including Ireland, have been drawing attention to the fact that we must understand that delayed diagnostics and treatment in other areas will lead to higher non-Covid-19 mortality. The Taoiseach referred to this in his remarks as well. Most of the diagnostic capacity of our country is lying idle. So too is much of our national public and private capacity to treat other diseases. Doctors across the country are reporting how people are not presenting with diseases, such as cancer, which have not suddenly become less prevalent.

The private hospital issue has still not been resolved. I think a bit of a mess was made on the contractual issues around that which have delayed treatments. Every effort should be made to bring this to a conclusion to ensure we can get more procedures done in the interest of patient safety and continuity of care.

We need an urgent assessment of what needs to be done to address all of this. A real significant second strand needs to develop a non-Covid-19 strand in terms of our acute hospital system. The continuing spending of many millions of euro on empty wards in private hospitals cannot be justified. I understand the reasons why it had to be done initially because we needed the capacity. However, we need to be utilising it to the maximum.

It has been reported that there will be a Cabinet meeting tomorrow and the Taoiseach stated that after it he will announce a strategy for the period ahead. At a minimum, the people need to be given clarity regarding the exact basis on which changes will be triggered. There cannot be more of the "We will tell you when we have decided" approach. The move away from a severe lockdown will only happen in gradual steps. These need to be outlined and sectors need to be given the opportunity to propose actions they can take to operate within health guidelines. While the science is absolutely clear, the shaping of policies to respect the science requires debate. Without a clear proposal from the Government on future steps, Dáil Éireann and the media will not be able to perform their core roles of oversight and debate, and we will be denied the opportunity to represent voices which currently feel marginalised in discussions.

In the coming weeks, a proposed social protection Estimate will be brought before the Dáil. This Estimate is required as a result of the unprecedented scale of the economic impact of the pandemic on policies to respond to it. As we have said to the Government, this requires proper scrutiny and cannot just be presented as a measure to be nodded through. We insist that there be a detailed review of the proposal such as it would receive if normal work arrangements were in place. As part of this, we want a full and open assessment of the economic impact of the pandemic. At present, we have macro-assessments but very little beyond that and we are concerned that there are many issues which have not emerged yet. We want to hear a full assessment of the impact on the finances of public companies. For example, we are currently operating a public transport system, which is receiving almost no revenue, and the National Transport Authority has been less than responsive to its needs. What is to be done to fill this gap?

We can see throughout Europe that governments are preparing bailouts of public companies and nationally critical enterprises. For example, the German Government is preparing an enormous funding package for Lufthansa. When will we be told at least the broad outline of these challenges. What is the current state of local authority finances? What is the assessment of the hit to be taken by higher education institutions? There are many groups of workers who need us to consider their situations. Fixed-term workers in research facilities are critical to the response but they face heightened uncertainty about their status. It is not acceptable that workers abandoned by Debenhams in what looks like an opportunistic timing of store closures are having their names taken by gardaí when they undertake responsible, socially-distanced demonstrations. They cannot be deprived of the right to draw attention to the situation.

The NESC report on the just transition regarding climate change emphasised that the digital transition also carries with it major social and economic challenges. If is true that had this developed during the pandemic, it would lead to an acceleration of the digital transformation, we will need an acceleration of measures to help those adversely affected by it.

There is no credible alternative to adopting the use of face coverings, particularly on public transport. Other countries have assessed their role. I believe advice is due shortly in that regard. The shared national effort has achieved much in the past two months. We all know it is not over, but we need an inclusive approach to preparing for what we do next.

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