Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing my time with Deputies Gould and Quinlivan, both of whom are to have four minutes. I will cede three of my seven minutes to the Minister because I want to use some of my time to hear a response. I believe the Ceann Comhairle said we are entitled to a response, but maybe not an answer. I feel like I have just stumbled in to some kind of job interview process. I do not know whether I should be commenting on it or not.

Yesterday, Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha gave evidence to the Covid committee. She spoke about infection rates among healthcare workers. She said she had a call with the International Council of Nurses and that Irish figures for infection rates among healthcare workers - the Minister's figures - are the highest in the world. Last night, An Taoiseach tried to contradict this. He was wrong and should apologise. Perhaps he is just waiting to find a nice, cute quote from a film to help him to find the right words. I do not know what it is but he was wrong. No country in the world uses the infection rate as a percentage of the healthcare workforce. That is not how it is managed. Internationally, we do have the highest infection rates in the world. There may be reasons for that. There may be an explanation but Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha is owed an apology, as are those healthcare workers who contracted the virus.

With regard to bed capacity, I received from the Minister's office a response to a parliamentary question indicating there are 11,597 beds. This is 1,000 or so more than were identified under the bed capacity review. It indicates that almost 1,000 additional beds were reopened to deal with Covid-19. Could the Minister confirm that, notwithstanding infection-control measures, of which we are all aware, these beds will be kept open and that the necessary workers needed to staff them will be hired?

As we move through the summer, we get closer to autumn and winter. These are often the seasons in which we experience the worst overcrowding in our emergency departments. Does the Minister have a plan for how the health service will deal with winter overcrowding if Covid-19 is still with us? If we lose the projected 20% to 25% of beds that we agreed last week or the week before will be necessary, will the plan include using the additional capacity in University Hospital Limerick and Citywest?

On the issue of staff, why are all non-consultant hospital doctors working or who have worked in the health service dealing with Covid-19 not been offered full-time contracts to encourage them to stay working in the health service where we desperately need them to be?

Dr. Anthony O'Connor, the Irish Medical Organisation and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association have been at the fore in raising this issue. Hundreds of doctors, and potentially thousands, have either come home to work in the health service or have just graduated. We desperately need them. They should not be let go by the HSE. That is absolutely unconscionable. The HSE should be seeking to retrain and recruit all available doctors and healthcare workers. The Government must not continue to force young doctors to emigrate. We have what is literally a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Can the Minister confirm that the non-consultant hospital doctors will be given a contract?

I wish to ask about the lack of staff, the lack of capacity and the way in which these affect care in our emergency departments and lead to overcrowding. As the health service and non-Covid-related care get back into full swing, those who normally end up in accident and emergency departments will need to be treated.

They are going to need surgery and care, and this simply cannot be done without staff. The waiting lists were paused but they have not gone away.

This is not just about offering student nurses a contract. This is about ensuring all the people who were here to help and "on call for Ireland", as the Minister put it, would be offered the opportunity to do the work we so desperately need them to do. We are not doing them a favour. I note the conversation I had with the Minister earlier concerning individual cases. I will wait for the response.

I have asked the Minister a few times about screening services. Will he commit to a catch-up programme and confirm that the lab capacity exists to allow that? Will the Minister commit to a publicity programme? I appreciate the Minister will probably have to write to me on the next matter. Has any progress been made in reviewing the case of the group home in Carrickmacross as raised last week by my colleague, Deputy Matt Carthy? The Minister undertook to have a look at it.

I know my time is tight and I am not leaving the Minister much time to respond but I will take the replies in writing. I have a letter from Ms Patricia King that was sent to the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Heather Humphreys, relating to the recording of Covid-related illness. With respect to section 58 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, Ms King is asking that an amendment be made to provide that occurrences of Covid-19 in the workplace be notifiable to the Health and Safety Authority. This absolutely makes sense as it is a notifiable disease and this is a public health matter. This landed on the desk of the Minister but she indicated she is not minded to resolve the matter. I have written some very simple legislation and I intend to publish it tomorrow. My hope is we will not need it and the Minister will see sense but I ask the Minister for Health to use his good offices in whatever time remains to ask the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to take action. It could be years. This is a really serious workplace issue.

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