Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I offer my sincere condolences to the families and friends of those who have passed away in the last week due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I again give my full support to all the front-line heroes who are keeping us safe during this most critical time. I am particularly pleased to note that there have been no new cases in my constituency of Louth since last Friday which is a testament to the efforts, commitment and resilience of the people of the constituency.

If anything, this Covid-19 crisis has shown us the value of our health service. We have seen how the health service has reacted to the pandemic and how it is keeping our country safe. I have no doubt that people will see our front-line staff in a different manner. They now see the heroic efforts of these wonderful people. However, we must now realise that in order for the health service to not only reach its full potential but also reward the front-line heroes in that service, we must now take a different approach.

There is likely to be a new Government in place in the coming weeks. I feel that we now have the opportunity to make real changes, particularly in the health service. It is clear that the health policies pursued in recent years are simply not working. I give an example in my constituency. Louth County Hospital in Dundalk is a prime example. It has traditionally served the people of Louth and its surrounding areas for over 60 years. The hospital has always had a tremendous reputation. Previous governments, in their wisdom, decided that it was appropriate to downgrade the hospital, which was a major mistake. We were told that Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda was to be the main acute hospital in the north east, which was also a mistake. It is clear that the downgrading of Louth County Hospital was not only wrong, but has also cost lives. People in Dundalk and the surrounding areas are clear that Louth County Hospital must have its services reinstated. I have spoken at length on this topic during my term in Dáil Éireann. My strong and only belief is that we must reinstate all services at Louth County Hospital.

While I am not going to scaremonger, how many lives could have been saved over the past decade if only we had a fully functioning hospital in Dundalk? The infrastructure is there, the staff are there and more importantly the population is there. During this Covid pandemic, Louth County Hospital has offered strong support to its counterpart in Drogheda, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. While I welcome the support it gave, it is now time for the full services to be reinstated and for Louth County Hospital to stand alone. This is what the people of Louth and east Meath demand and it is the least they deserve.

Over the coming days, the three parties hoping to form a Government will no doubt be seeking the support of Independents. I want to put on record and be very clear on this. Unless the proposed Government supports me in my call for the reinstatement of full services to Louth County Hospital, I will not support it. The people in the Louth and east Meath area have made it clear that this hospital must have its services restored and I will stand by them.

The Minister visited Louth County Hospital in 2018 and the minor injury unit can now treat patients as young as five. The people of Dundalk, Louth and the surrounding area thought this was the first step in the right direction. On 27 June 2010, Louth County Hospital emergency department closed, which was a major shock. The only good thing was that it was continuing to do the day surgeries, day medical services, outpatient services, and also operating the minor injuries unit. Louth County Hospital has medical wards and plenty of space to expand. In recent months we have spent millions of euro to use the facilities of private hospitals. The buzzword is ICUs. Louth County Hospital is willing and able to step into the breach. This is very important. I put on record again that if the Government is looking for my support, I am looking for the Minister's support. Will he help me and call for the services to return to Louth County Hospital?

In recent weeks I have called for a public inquiry into the many deaths that occurred in the Dealgan nursing home as a result of Covid-19. What is the status of this inquiry? It is important that we get to the bottom of exactly what went wrong so that we can learn what procedures and protocols can be implemented to ensure we do not have this issue in the future.

Where do we stand on testing and tracing? Many experts predict a second spike in Covid-19 and the common consensus is that we need a stable and robust test and tracing system in place. Has such a system been put in place now?

Over the past couple of months, I have spoken on the record about the 2 m social distancing requirement. I was led to believe that we were following the advice of the World Health Organization.

It categorically states that the safe social distance is 1 m, yet we are insisting on 2 m. We need complete clarity on whether we are following the WHO guidelines or not. If we are to follow the guidelines set out by WHO, then we should be operating a 1 m social distancing rule. This could be a game changer for many businesses in the State that badly need to reopen. They are being starved of business and unfortunately the longer this goes on the greater the chance that some businesses will not reopen. We must avoid this at all costs. Will the Minister confirm to the House what guidelines we are following and can he see a situation whereby a 1 m social distancing rule could be implemented?

I will conclude by summarising the issues I would like the Minister to address. If he does not have enough time to reply perhaps he can reply in writing. Will the Minister support me in my calls to have full services reinstated at Louth County Hospital? Will the Minister give the House an update on the progress of a full public inquiry into the set of circumstances around the many deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic? Will the Minister update the house on the testing and tracing system currently in place and does the Minister believe this to be robust enough should we suffer a second surge of the virus? Will the Minister update the House on whether we will adopt the guidelines of the World Health Organization in implementing a social distance rule of 1 m, as opposed to 2 m?

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