Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies O'Donoghue and Michael Collins for their questions. As rightly stated by the Deputies, I will meet the Irish Dental Association tomorrow. As the Deputies will know, the roadmap announced by the Government on Friday, 1 May, referred at a high level to wanting to increase the delivery of non-Covid care and services alongside Covid-19 care to meet demand. There are a range of practicalities that now need to be addressed, some of which we have been discussing today in this House. In light of the advice and opinions emanating from a number of stakeholders in regard to dental care and Covid-19, the expert advisory group to NPHET has been asked by my Department to consider whether advice can now be given which would assist in bringing clarity to these matters. I think that would be welcome and helpful at this stage. Dental services are currently confined under legislation to the delivery of emergency dental services. This legislative provision is among the issues to be reviewed in light of the decisions recently announced by the Government. We will get the expert advice through NPHET and I will meet the Irish Dental Association, following which I will report back to this House next week.

On the issue of face masks, I am pleased to hear of Irish companies making them. Given that we are going to need PPE for the foreseeable future, it poses an opportunity and a question for us as to how Irish industry and businesses can be assisted in producing them. I do not want to deviate too much from the role of my Department but I think we are seeking examples of this emerging across the country.

On the mobile testing unit, I will ask my Department to look into the matter again. I do know that all of these offers of assistance would be co-ordinated at a central point. The website gov.ie/covidsupplies takes these applications. I will correspond directly with the Deputy in an effort to assist in the matter.

I thank Deputy Michael Collins for raising the issue of home care and home help which, in fairness to him, he consistently raises in this House. He has done so in this Dáil and in the last Dáil and I know he feels very strongly on the issue. I must point out that in the last budget we allocated 1 million additional home help hours but I accept there is need for a discussion on the model of care for older people in our country post this pandemic and also in line with Sláintecare. However, this is not just an issue of the number of hours of home help provided, although I accept that is an issue. It is also about having a statutory home care scheme. Every politician in this House has probably said since entering elected office, if not before, that they want people to be able to grow old with dignity in their own homes. The only scheme we have ever legislated for in this Oireachtas is a scheme to support people going into a nursing home. We do need a statutory home help scheme. When we have a new Government, we should advance that as quickly as we can.

On the issue of dentists, I have already addressed that issue to Deputy O'Donoghue.

On the issue of trawlers, I will discuss the matter with my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, following which he or I will revert to the Deputy on the matter. I do not know the specifics of the issue but I do know that for Covid-19 to be transmitted it requires people to be in close contact for a period of time. In light of the specifics raised by the Deputy it would be best if I engaged with the Minister with responsibility for the marine and reverted to him in writing.

See this speech in context