Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister, all our front-line services and particularly NPHET. The situation is very challenging at the moment with the increasing case figures.

I congratulate all our leaving certificate students who received their results this week and in many cases will go to college. My concern, however, is our student nurses and the supports in place for them and our midwives unable to work part-time while on placement. Student nurses on placement have been told they cannot work in other healthcare settings due to Covid-19. What supports are being put in place for these students who will be on the front line this winter and who will be working harder than ever? We will need our nurses more than ever, so what will we do to support them financially? What supports will be put in place for our students? The Union of Students in Ireland has contacted me as well as other Deputies, I am sure, as has the INMO, about what supports we can put in place. I would like the Minister to come back to me with an answer on that.

NPHET was before the Covid committee a few weeks ago and those of us on the committee spoke to its representatives. We asked various questions. I asked about children going back to school and what we had in place for them, particularly as far as testing is concerned. I asked about saliva testing, which has been talked about for a long time. It is less invasive, particularly for children and staff. NPHET told me at that committee meeting that it was looking at saliva testing and thought it would be put in place. Will this type of testing be put in place? If so, when and is there a timescale for it? That is really important.

I know it was brought up earlier but I wish to bring up maternity hospitals and birth partners not being allowed into hospitals. I think the biggest issue with this is the confusion. The reason there is confusion is that in certain hospitals one can go into the maternity hospital with one's partner but in other hospitals one cannot. This is where I think all of us have concerns. I realise how hard the Minister is working, but there is a lack of communication and information. A lady, a family member, rang my clinic yesterday and asked why some hospitals are allowing partners in and others are not. Unless we get everything in place across the board and everybody is given proper information, this cannot be sorted.

We have spoken about wet pubs. I have made myself very clear that I understand we have to agree with and totally go with NPHET guidelines. I also believe, however, that the wet pubs should have been allowed to open earlier. I was very strong on that last week and I still am. I have met the vintners. They are very willing to work with every guideline that is given to them. They are willing to work under proper control. They will do whatever they have to do to reopen. This is so important because, as I have said before, we are dealing with families who have had wet pubs for years and who now do not even know whether they can reopen because they do not know whether it will be viable for them to do so. That is a huge concern so I have been very strong on it.

My biggest issue as a Carlow-Kilkenny Deputy is that Carlow town borders Graiguecullen, and when what we would call restrictions or lockdowns - there was a bit of confusion about it - were put in place in Laois, Kildare and Offaly, there was such confusion over that because by 12 o'clock that night there were restrictions such that shops, hotels and restaurants had to close. I got so many phone calls about this because my town borders Laois. There was such confusion. The concern now is the case numbers in Dublin and Limerick. I understand that the Minister has to put in place restrictions, but the restrictions that night were announced for 12 o'clock and there was such confusion. I know the Minister has done his best and I am not here to criticise. I listened to his speech today and heard what he said. We all have to work together. The only way we can do this is by working together. I hope everybody is here to work together because that is the only way we can solve this. If there are restrictions, however, I ask the Minister and NPHET to look at them carefully and realise the need to sort something out for people. People need to be given that little bit more information rather than a 12 o'clock lockdown.

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