Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First, I am very pleased that Deputy Feighan is okay. One cannot keep a good man down. I am pleased he is well and that he had a good experience in our health service. I join him in paying tribute to the staff in Sligo University Hospital, and the paramedics as well. I had the pleasure of visiting Sligo University Hospital some time last year. There are exciting plans in place in terms of capital redevelopment, as well as plans for the hospice facility in Sligo. It is a very well-run hospital but it is in need of significant extra capacity and that is something we are going to have to work on together in the weeks and months ahead.

On the 2 m rule versus a 1 m rule, as the Deputy rightly said, we will be guided by public health advice. It is very clear that if someone is 2 m away from me, there is a 99% chance that he or she has a degree of protection if I cough or sneeze. If that person is 1 m away, he or she will still have protection, but not as much. Let us be honest; there will be some sectors in which 2 m of distance will not be possible and we will have to look at how we can put other mitigating measures in place there. It would be hard to get one's hair cut from 2 m away, for example. We will have to look at those sectors in other ways, but the general public health advice is that our citizens should follow the 2 m rule as much as possible. It is the best way of disrupting transmission of the virus. Very interesting research is being done on this issue in the Mater Hospital, as was shown on RTÉ last night. It is very hard for the droplets to carry further than 2 m.

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