Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Covid-19 guidance on visitations to residential care facilities has been developed and is reviewed and revised on an ongoing basis in consultation with key national stakeholders. This is an important document that provides a pathway for safe visiting. Any updates are expected to encompass recent developments in the response. As I stated, however, the existing guidance is not without consideration for visiting on compassionate grounds. That is allowed. It behoves all providers of long-term residential care to balance their responsibility to ensure their residents' autonomy and right to have visitors with the need to ensure that visitations do not compromise overall residential care.

Visitation was suspended in all nursing homes when Dublin went to level 3. However, a situation arose where window visits were stopped completely. I wish to state on the record that this was not a recommendation of the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET. The onus is on each nursing homes to set out its own guidelines. I appeal to all nursing homes to allow window visits at a minimum. This does not entail contact between a visitor and his or her loved one, but a visitor can at least see in the window, wave and perhaps have a conversation, especially if a mobile phone can be used.

I will certainly raise the matter referred to by Deputy Cullinane with the Minister again. I have been contacted by many very distressed pregnant women from all over the country. This situation is very fluid and as we have seen today, it is changing by the day, but I will certainly raise it with the Minister again.

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