Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies Donnelly, Butler and Cahill. To conclude the conversation with Deputy Donnelly in regard to cancer care and, in fairness, I know he said this also, it need not go the way that it potentially will go in other countries because of the efforts the people here have made and the leadership that our healthcare professionals have shown. We now have an opportunity to really ramp up our non-Covid-19 care plans alongside our Covid-19 care plans, and I want to assure the Deputy of my Department's and the HSE's real appetite for doing that. I do not want members of the public to be unnecessarily concerned. The health service is open. The health service has spare capacity available, which is not something the Minister for Health is usually able to say. GPs are urging people to call them. Community assessment hubs are in place. The Irish Cancer Society, Cancer Care West and others have come together to ramp up their services and supports. I want to acknowledge that and thank them for it. A major advertising campaign will start next week, but I very much hear the Deputy that it needs to be a significant and very visible one. I give my word to him that we will ensure that is the case and I will revert to him on what that might look like.

I thank Deputy Butler for telling me about her visit to St. Carthage's House and for the work she has been doing to help in the context of delivering hand sanitiser. The experience she has articulated is one that I have seen across the country when I engage with nursing home owners and at my twice-weekly meeting with nursing home owners also. It is that sense of relief and reassurance that a negative result can provide.

Thankfully, we saw the positivity rate of testing overall, not just in nursing homes, drop back to approximately 3.7% last week. The overwhelming majority of people are getting the peace of mind that they do not have Covid.

The Deputy is right that testing is only a point in time and one needs to keep going back and doing it again and again. The short answer to the Deputy's question in this regard is "Yes". There will be a recurring programme of testing for long-term residential care facilities. NPHET is due to consider a paper on how best to do that either at its meeting tomorrow or Tuesday of next week. It will be finalised within the next week. We will be also talking to the nursing home sector, HIQA and others about how lessons can be learned in regard to streamlining the process. Deputy Butler is correct, too, that there is a real appetite from nursing home staff nurses to do the testing themselves, which would greatly assist everybody. We will take them up on that offer but we need to work out a way to do it most appropriately.

Deputy Cahill spoke about St. Brigid's Hospital in Carrick-on-Suir. I will take his concerns directly to the HSE with a view to seeking clarity on the intended usage or restoration of the facility to its former purpose post the pandemic. I will revert directly to the Deputy on that either today or tomorrow.

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