Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hope the Deputy does not believe I am being disingenuous in regard to our commitment to Sláintecare and I can assure her if a new Government is formed it will be the case that, as I have heard her say, it will be about reform alongside funding. Whichever party is in the new Government will need to show real contractual reform in terms of the consultants' contract and regional areas, something we can come back to another day.

The Deputy is right about the second wave. The current advice, accepting that these things evolve and are dynamic, is that it is likely that this is going to be a virus that will be with us for a while and will come in waves. We all wish to keep the size of such waves as low as possible and that is why we need to continue with the public health measures. That is why I believe there is going to be a need for the ongoing involvement of NPHET and the various structures we have in place.

On the nursing home sector, it will require constant vigilance. I did two things recently to prepare for any potential future wave. One is the establishment of the expert panel chaired by Professor Cecily Kelleher, which is due to produce its first document on what more actions need to be taken, how it believes we are prepared now with the measures we have in place and what other countries are doing that we could learn from. That to-do list for all parts of the health service in respect of nursing homes will be published at the end of June. The second thing I did was to meet HIQA last week. I told it very clearly that if it believes it needs any additional regulatory powers, I could ask the board to formally consider that question and revert to me. There are ongoing actions, but this area will require constant vigilance.

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