Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The women of Ireland will be reassured that the measures that will be taken in respect of the National Screening Service will be taken in line with clinical advice rather than my political views of the world. I have already told the House today that by the end of this month the National Screening Service will outline the restart dates for each of the four screening programmes. I fully agree with the Deputy that it is not acceptable that the website has not been updated since 5 May. I know they have been engaging with the Irish Cancer Society, the Marie Keating Foundation, the 221 Plus group and the National Women's Council but I agree that website should be updated.

Regarding the issue of nursing homes, the villain here is the virus. We have a virus that has killed more than 400,000 people across the world and it is a virus that is extremely infectious. When it gets into residential settings it can be extremely difficult and deadly for people of a certain age. When this pandemic is over there will be a time to reflect on all the measures we put in place and, indeed, the lessons to be learned, and there must be lessons learned from a pandemic. I note what Dr. Nabarro told the Oireachtas Special Committee on Covid-19 Response today, chaired by Deputy McNamara. He said that when it comes to Ireland and care homes, our numbers are very honest. That is a reflection of what he might think of the numbers in other countries in regard to the counting of fatalities in nursing homes. He also said that in all of the countries he studied he had never seen a wider circle of inclusion in terms of what is included in Covid-19 statistics on nursing homes.

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