Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are, however, a significant number of measures being put in place to manage such competing priorities, for example, a national requirement campaign for dedicated testing and tracing resources. We expect that such measures coming in place will assist in our ability to meet both Covid and non-Covid service demands.

HR in community operations has been in dialogue with trade union partners regarding the matter and has agreed to progress a roadmap for the return of all staff to their substantive roles as the new staff come on stream in a co-ordinated way.

I appreciate Deputy Naughten's advice and I will bring it to the Minister. However, sometimes there are many other issues. When I got involved in politics first, I was told the fight is never what the fight is about. Sometimes there are other issues, of which perhaps we are not cognisant. We are in the middle of a dangerous Covid pandemic. The situation is evolving and what pertained last week may not pertain this week. We see in our own areas the rise of Covid-19. I certainly congratulate all the front-line staff of the HSE for all the work they have done so far.

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