Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

At a time when it seems there are many internal tensions within the Government, with Fianna Fáil dealing with its own internal problems, Fine Gael dithering, to put it mildly, over the nomination of our Commissioner role, and the Tánaiste playing a dangerous political game within the Government, the reality for the rest of us outside of Cabinet is that Covid-19 rates continue to grow steadily. There seems to be a mindset within the Government that a second lockdown is inevitable. Indeed, the Minister for Health said as much last week. Increasingly, there is a sense among the public that they are forgoing so many different aspects of normal life while the business community is paying an enormous price, but the other key partner in all of this, the Government, is not playing its part.

It is not playing its part in three key ways: the need to honour its commitment to ensure we have an effective testing and tracing system in place; to ensure we have proper controls at our airports and ports; and to ensure that open information and data are made available, and that they would drive the policy in this area. None of those things are happening. As for testing and tracing, from the beginning we have been told this must be about test, test, test, and we described our own early policy of being one of test, trace and isolate, but we are not doing that. For so long we were playing catch-up while the numbers were growing earlier in the year. Finally, when the numbers, thankfully, started to drop, we were told the capacity was there. We are told the capacity is for 100,000 tests a week. I do not believe that. It has never been achieved or nearly achieved. What is happening in that area? We heard on the radio this morning that staff are being taken away from audiology and other key services to prop up the testing and tracing system. When are we going to have an effective testing and tracing system?

When are we going to have proper controls for international travel? We have been promised this form, which is supposed to be online. Up to now, there has been little more than forms being handed out, and the follow-up has been hopeless. When are we going to have a proper system in place at our ports and airports?

Third, when is the Government going to ensure that it is open about the data and information? We have to keep the public with us. Actions being taken at the moment are simply not understandable because they are not backed up by any data or evidence.

When is the Government going to address these three areas and when is it going to play its part in responding to the virus?

See this speech in context