Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government has made many big announcements and big commitments in the last few months but these announcements and commitments are not being reflected in action on the ground. A case in point is the announcement about testing. We were told we are to get 100,000 per week and we are also told it will be 15,000 per day. Of course, while this sounds great, in practice, the situation is very different on the ground. I was contacted recently by a person who had to wait 22 days to get the test results, and that was after chasing up the hospital to get those results. Others are waiting 12 or 15 days for their results. As testing figures seem unclear and not very exact, I wonder how many results a day are being communicated to those tested.

It seems that it could be different. It is probably a better way of measuring how effective testing is.

Another big announcement was that the State had done a deal with private hospitals. This sounded fantastic but the reality was different. I have been contacted by staff in private hospitals who have said those hospitals were significantly under utilised over the past eight weeks. When we consider that almost 50% of those who have died from the Covid virus were resident in nursing homes we must ask why the hospitals have been so under utilised. The son of a nursing home resident contacted me to ask whether the Government had abandoned the nursing homes. Unfortunately, the answer seems to be "yes". In this context, will the Minister commit to using all of the resources in the private hospitals to support nursing homes?

Homecare workers are not required to wear masks, which has been mentioned. This is a real concern for many people who have vulnerable family members receiving support. It is also a concern for the homecare workers. A homecare worker may have to make up to 30 visits a day. Will the Minister state why masks are not required?

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