Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle.

Gach lá bíonn an iomarca daoine ag fáil bháis de thoradh an víris seo. Tá an iomarca ag éirí tinn agus fós san ospidéal. Smaoinímid orthu go léir agus déanaimid comhbhrón leo inniu díreach mar a dhéanaimid gach lá. Is dea-scéal é, ámh, go bhfuilimid ag dul ar aghaidh sa treo ceart. Dá bharr sin tá mo dhóchas féin ag dul i méid go mbeimid in ann bogadh ar aghaidh le céim a haon Dé Luain, 18 Bealtaine. Déanfaidh an Chomh-aireacht an cinneadh seo amárach ina dhiaidh di comhairle na saineolaithe leighis a fháil. Bheadh an iomarca le cailleadh againn dá mbrostóimis agus chuirfimis an méid atá bainte amach againn i gcontúirt. De réir mar a laghdaíonn muid na srianta, ní mór dúinn leanúint ar aghaidh lenár ngealltanais maidir leis na gníomhartha: amhail is ár lámha a ní agus fanacht amach go fisiciúil óna chéile. Tá níos mó tábhachta ag baint leis na réamhchúraimí seo ná riamh roimhe seo.

As an Oireachtas and a nation, our thoughts are once again with the families of loved ones who have lost their lives to Covid-19. As of last night, 1,497 people have died in our State and 449 more have died in Northern Ireland. Our thoughts are also with those who are working to fight this virus every day, as well as those fighting with the virus. In total, 23,400 people in the Republic of Ireland have been diagnosed with Covid-19. Some 78%, 19,470, have made a full recovery.

Thanks to the majority of people across our country following the guidelines, we have slowed the spread of the virus. It has not been easy but it has had an impact on all of us in many different ways. Some have lost loved ones. Others have missed out on events which strengthen the ties of family and friendship, such as weddings, birthdays and the birth of a new arrival. Many have lost their jobs or fear losing them and others wonder if their businesses will ever reopen. This has been a test of our solidarity and resilience, and it is one that we are passing as a nation every day. We are seeing what we can achieve when we put the needs of the many above the needs of the few.

Covid-19 has had a devastating economic impact. Our mission is to get people back to work, get businesses open again and get the economy humming so that we have the resources we need to build a better society, a great society worthy of the great people we have proven ourselves to be.

The first steps to reawaken our economy will be done in a slow and gradual way. At all times we will maintain an intense focus on the virus and follow four guiding principles: isolate, test, trace and treat, so that we can quickly react if things go wrong and if there is an increase in cases.

As we are seeing around the world, this is not a straight path. Sometimes progress is halted and there are setbacks. We have seen examples of this in Germany, South Korea and again most recently in Wuhan. The crucial thing is to keep doing the right things, to stick to the strategy and maintain our focus and to expect and look for new clusters and flare-ups. This virus is a fire in retreat. We must quench its every spark and stamp out every ember.

While every new case and death is a cause for serious concern, over the last seven days we have seen the lowest daily number of cases and death since March. As a result, we are increasingly confident that we will be able to move to phase one on Monday. NPHET is meeting today to conduct its assessment and the Cabinet will make its decision tomorrow after we receive its advice. It is worth remembering that we are still in phase zero. All things going to plan, phase one will begin on Monday, if and only if it is safe to do so. The moment we assume that our progress through the phases is inevitable, we risk going backwards.

I acknowledge that as we open workplaces we will see more workplace clusters and we need to be vigilant about that. The Return to Work Safely protocol has put measures in place that will prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the workplace. It is a living and evolving document that ensures we protect those at work as well as customers and clients. The Health and Safety Authority will help business to achieve compliance in a co-operative manner but will close workplaces if necessary. I extend my thanks to the unions and employers' bodies for working with the Government to develop a protocol for playing their part in this time of national crisis.

In the coming weeks, as we ease restrictions, we may see an increase in the R number, as Germany has, so after 18 May we need to be more disciplined and act more responsibly than ever before when it comes to vital public health actions. There must be no handshakes. We must keep a physical distance of 2 m wherever possible. We must wash our hands regularly, sneeze or cough into a tissue or our elbow and stay at home and self-isolate if we become sick. Face coverings, visors and sneeze-guards, while they have a role, are not a substitute for any of this. I have every confidence in the Irish people to embrace this new normal.

As we know, extensive travel restrictions are in place. We are requiring that all people arriving in our ports and airports must complete a public health passenger locator form and self-isolate for 14 days. There are exceptions like supply-chain workers or people stopping over in one of our airports before travelling onwards, or of course people on their way to and from Northern Ireland. We are examining means to strengthen these actions in the next few days. However, we must also remember that we have a land border with Northern Ireland that we want to stay open, a common travel area with the UK that we want to preserve, and our right as European citizens to travel, study and work anywhere in the European Union, which we want to uphold. While these rights may be restricted for a time due to the pandemic and public health emergency, it is our policy to resume normal travel for business, leisure, study and visits to friends and relatives as soon as it is safe to do so but not before. This is something the European Commission is currently working on. However, it is going to be months not weeks before this is possible.

Testing is ramping up and more than a quarter of a million tests have now been carried out. The target of 44,000 tests has been reached since we last met in this format. We understand that we are the first country after San Marino to test all nursing home staff and residents. This is now being recognised as best practice and other countries are following suit. Testing is now under way in care homes for people with disabilities and also mental health facilities. It is now an emerging fact, sadly, that across the developed world a very high percentage of deaths with Covid have involved residents of care homes, with a very high percentage also in countries where total numbers are low, like Norway, Canada and New Zealand. As the numbers come in, those percentages continue to rise, including in Ireland. While it is an easy analysis to blame nursing homes affected or the HSE, HIQA or the Department of Health, it might yet prove not to be fair or factual to do so. It does not seem that any country has been wholly successful in keeping Covid out of its care homes and we are not alone in experiencing this tragedy.

That, however, is no comfort. No matter what their age, every life shortened is a life lost. Families grieve and many have been unable to say goodbye in person or to have a proper funeral. While measles and meningitis target the young, coronavirus targets older people, the frail and those with pre-existing conditions. It has been suggested by some that the best way to protect our care homes is to lock them down, residents and staff, for months on end to ensure they have no contact with the outside world. I am not sure this is the model of care we want for our seniors in the long run.

We need to consider alternatives, for example, more and better home care. This Government was able to afford to increase the home care budget by 40%. It is unlikely the next Government will have such resources so we will need to find a new funding model and place it on a statutory footing. The outgoing Government did some excellent work in developing alternatives like supported housing and housing with care and the new Government can and should build on and operationalise this work. We also need to consider a move away from large, modern, newly-built, 150 to 200-bed, single-room nursing homes towards smaller units, as we have done in the disability sector. We also need to re-examine clinical governance. We must integrate care homes better with the health service and enable therapists, geriatricians and infection control nurses to reach in. We must avoid hospitals as much as possible and ensure that there is a medical director as well as a person in charge.

I do not have all the answers but I am thinking about them every day. I know other Deputies are also doing so. There are many examples of good practice already. We need to identify them and mainstream them. This will be a major challenge for the new Government. It should be approached in an open-minded, non-judgmental, evidence-based way that respects the dignity and agency of older people.

This emergency has hit our country very hard. As we re-open our country and rebuild our economy, we have the opportunity to reshape our society in ways that will benefit our citizens for generations to come. We should seize the opportunity to have greater levels of working from home, online education, ehealth and telehealth, reduced unnecessary domestic and air travel, lower greenhouse emissions and cleaner air.

As always, I look forward to hearing the comments, observations and questions from Members.

See this speech in context