Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising these matters. I had an excellent meeting with the Irish Dental Association last week. I was hoping to meet its representatives again today but the meeting had to be moved to tomorrow. They raised three issues. A lot of the dentists need funding to get their business back up and running. I discussed with them some of the supports announced by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation relating to adaptations, rates and so on, and I have undertaken to write to the association about that. I talked to dentists about linking them in with the HSE. I know some dental practices have been receiving PPE. As the Deputy rightly said, they were not asking us to give them PPE, but they were wondering whether there was a way to secure it at an affordable rate. I am hopeful that we can make some progress on that tomorrow when we engage.

The most important issue they wanted to ask me about was the expert advice. They want to reopen, we want them to reopen, and the question is how we can do it safely. We asked the expert advisory group to NPHET to provide specific, bespoke advice about how a dental practice can reopen in a safe manner. I hope to have that for them tomorrow and if not then, then certainly early next week.

On some of the points that the Deputy made about complying, it will be difficult for all of us to comply and live alongside the virus. I hear different stakeholders on the radio every morning telling us how difficult it will be. I know it will be difficult. We will all have to work and live in a different way alongside this virus. The WHO could not be clearer in that regard. That means we will have to support people. In the first instance, sectors will have to come forward to their line Department, such as the Departments of Agriculture, Food and the Marine or Transport, Tourism and Sport, with their proposals and ideas, and where necessary, if they want to seek advice from the NPHET, that Department can do so. Our roadmap is iterative. It is not a finished document or the final word on the matter. We will continue to engage with everybody in the country about how we make a success of it.

With regard to the WHO recommendations, we continue to recommend two metres. There are different schools of thought on this but we believe that 2 m at least is important to stop the spread of the germs from one person to the next.

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