Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. The winter plan is being developed by the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and the HSE. I agree with the Deputy's comments that this needs to be done within the next few weeks and not when winter is already upon us. That is the plan and intention of the Government. We do not know what winter will be like. We cannot know for sure to what extent Covid will be an issue during the winter and whether the current number of cases will continue to rise or fall back. We do not know what the flu season will look like. Indications from the southern hemisphere, where it starts, and the vaccination programme we are introducing will perhaps mean that the flu season this winter will not be as bad as it was in previous winters. We cannot take that risk. A winter plan will prepare for a serious flu season and serious challenges as a consequence of Covid.

On self-referral for Covid testing, it is something we would like to do an ideal world. I am not sure it is something we can do. We need to consider it seriously, but we need to bear in mind that if we allow people to self-refer for tests, there is a possibility that medical scientists in our laboratories, who are working unbelievably hard, may be overwhelmed. I appreciate the hard work that GPs are doing. They are currently our gatekeepers for testing. They are run off their feet. Moving that problem on to laboratory and medical scientists does not solve the problem. We need to make sure we have the capacity to do it.

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