Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to express my dissatisfaction and the dissatisfaction of the people I represent with the Government's spending in response to Covid-19. For example, almost €9 million has been spent on advertising since the start of the pandemic. That figure does not include the recent hiring of a public relations firm following criticisms of the mixed messaging around Covid restrictions. A communications and advisory firm was engaged to help with the launch of the medium-term Covid plan on Tuesday. I hope the company has not yet been paid because the number of messages and calls I have received about the launch shows it would not be money well spent. There has been huge confusion over what is meant by level 2, level 2 and a bit minus the wet pubs and everything else in between. Where is the clarity that is needed? The Government and the Department of Health already employ a large number of staff to deal with media and communications. Does the Government feel it has a problem in communicating its message? The solution to that should not to be hire public relations firms but to communicate the message better. It might also be wise to stop Ministers from constantly contradicting each other.

In my capacity as party spokesperson for older people, I have met many of the groups representing older people, all of which feel that the people they represent were forgotten about by the Government in its response to Covid-19. It was no accident that this pandemic had a disproportionate effect on older citizens. We saw from the oversubscription of the Age Action and Irish Red Cross hardship fund that older people feel they are being left behind. There were 42,000 inquiries to that fund and 21,000 applications, of which just 453 were granted. This shortfall is no fault of Age Action and the Irish Red Cross, which managed to secure corporate sponsorship of more than €100,000 for the fund. We need a Government-backed hardship fund for older people to be established and properly resourced. We must prioritise older people and the services that provide care for them and we must ensure day care services can be reopened. We must consider the mental health of older people as well as their physical health. We need to focus our efforts on reopening health services. It is absolutely unacceptable that routine screening and appointments for other services have not recommenced. Before the Covid crisis, waiting lists were already at an unacceptable level. I hate to think how they will look by the end of the year if things continue as they have been.

We also need to give proper resources to suicide prevention. We all know the effect Covid has had on the mental health of our population. We have seen the effect that proper investment and a credible plan have had on the number of road deaths. We need a body like the Road Safety Authority, RSA, to tackle the epidemic of suicide. We need proper investment and a credible plan, and that plan must include the provision of 24-7 mental health services. Anything else is simply not acceptable. Suicide does not just affect those who take their own lives. It affects their families, friends and communities. That effect can be felt for generations, such is the impact on those who are left behind.

Finally, I wish to raise the situation of HOPE(D), a local mental health charity in Newbridge, County Kildare. The service is in danger of closing because Covid-19 has decimated its fundraising programmes. The HSE refers people to HOPE(D) but refuses to provide adequate funding for the service. Let us think about that for a moment. I am asking that the Minister for Health and the Taoiseach intervene directly to ensure this service gets the help it deserves.

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