Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy McDonald's question referenced section 38 and section 39 organisations; I understand the previous Government did make an allocation from the Dormant Accounts Fund to try to ease the pressure that many of them are under. That said, it is clear that their capacity to fundraise has been significantly reduced. Others have developed novel ways of trying to raise funding but it is not at the level it was for them. In addition, there will be a review of that sector. It is a long-standing model whereby the organisations have considerable autonomy but essentially perform services as agents of the State in terms of contracts and so on. They look after very vulnerable people and people in need in our community and society.

We are concentrating and focusing on the other key issue I mentioned earlier, namely the resumption of services for the treatment of non-Covid illnesses and the development of diagnostics and so on. Last Friday, the Minister for Health and I met HSE officials with a specific focus on the winter initiative and the need to deal with the resumption of services for non-Covid illnesses and that strand of services. It will be challenging, of that there is no doubt. Emergency attendance bed capacity is back at 94%, which is too high, particularly in the context of any resurgence in Covid or the arrival of the flu season. That is why I wanted to meet with the HSE, to drive home early the need for early measures to try to ward off the challenges that will undoubtedly be faced by the health service over the next number of weeks and months.

On Deputy Boyd-Barrett's questions, at that meeting I was connected to health service workers all over the country via teleconference. I thanked all of them for the outstanding contribution that our front-line healthcare workers and those working in administration behind the scenes have made to the country in addressing the Covid-19 emergency. I acknowledge the innovation and the commitment they showed as well as the trauma many workers endured when communicating with families who lost loved ones and could not be with them at the time of their passing. Anyone who saw the "RTÉ Investigates" programme about the impact of Covid-19 in one hospital would have been very struck by the emotional experiences of the front-line workers, apart altogether from their professional contribution, so we are very conscious of that.

The French package is perhaps in a different context as well. There were other issues in terms of the wider package. As a country we have had to deal with an enormous issue here. We will have a deficit of approximately €30 billion at the end of the year. These are issues that we continue to examine, and there are continuing pressures. The July stimulus is about trying to help people get back to work and supporting livelihoods of those who have no job at all at the moment and whose prospects are uncertain because of the continued prevalence of Covid-19 in our community. This is a step-by-step approach. Covid is not over. Where financial and economic planning is concerned, we have to plan not just for the next three months but for the next 12 months. We must plan also how we allocate resources now to try to deal with the range of impacts that Covid is having on different sectors of our society and our economy.

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