Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I raise the matter of capacity as we have seen how hospitals have had to deal with people getting very ill from Covid-19 and going into intensive care units, etc. We still have our need for ordinary surgeries, consultations and treatment of ill people so what are the HSE and the Minister doing in this respect? Will the Minister give us a breakdown of the current position?

It was mentioned recently by Dr. Rita Doyle that the required legislation to allow non-consultant hospital doctors to train to be consultants, which was introduced in the previous Dáil, has not been implemented. It is sitting there waiting to be acted upon. It is the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019. Why are we not moving very quickly on that in order to get doctors trained for badly needed consultant positions? We know there are 500 consultant vacancies and 160 registered doctors have finished training and are available for consultant positions. Why is this not being acted upon?

We need at least 1,600 additional consultants, as mentioned by Dr. Anthony Staines recently. We know we need many more beds in the system so how will we cater for that? Will we bring in Portakabins, etc., to try to meet those accommodation needs in hospitals? Could this be done? It is the sort of capacity we must start building before winter. Wherever we can, we must try to maintain the employment of doctors and nurses who came home to answer Ireland's call. At least 200 of them came home but are they still here? Have they been given positions within the health service?

The measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 include the wearing of masks, washing hands, keeping 2 m distance and coughing etiquette. These form part of the act of protecting ourselves and others. We have set it as public health policy to wear masks on public transport and it will become mandatory to wear a mask in shops. I raised the matter with the Tánaiste yesterday of homeless people who cannot access masks and I thought his response absolutely pathetic. Are they supposed to wear rags around their faces? How do we ensure homeless people can have access to face coverings and ensure people on low incomes can get them? They are expensive but people want to have the best protection possible. It is not good enough to say we do not need masks and all we need is to cover our face. We are supposed to have three layers of face protection in masks if we follow the recommendations.

We are not supplying people with the necessary means to wear masks as part of the health policy. I specifically refer to pensioners and people with disabilities, who badly need good face coverings to protect themselves. Single parents are normally on a low income but masks can be expensive at up to €50 for a pack of 50 blue masks. It can be €24 for three cloth coverings. People across the board need them. We must get masks to the people who need them so they can feel protected by them.

I may come back to the Minister with more questions in a few moments. We know the UK Government has struck a deal for 190 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, including the vaccines being worked on in Oxford and the United States. Has the HSE taken a similar approach in buying vaccines that seem to have good potential? When will the flu vaccine be administered to the general population?

Have hospitals got stock and a store of personal protective equipment, PPE? Have they ventilators if a second wave emerges? The Minister said the percentage of healthcare workers being affected is low compared with other countries but we all know PPE is crucial. Do we have that stock where it can be easily accessible to nursing homes or home help workers on the front line in case of second wave?

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