Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would like to address the House briefly on the new Covid roadmap announced by the Government a number of days ago. We all appreciate that this framework was needed and that it is a roadmap for living with the virus over the coming months. However, it quickly became clear that the announcement was not as clear as was hoped. From day one, we heard Dublin was being placed on a type of level 2.5. It has since moved to level 3.5 or thereabouts. All of us in this House appreciate the need for this type of roadmap as we learn to live with the virus. While this framework reduces the numbers of people permitted to attend weddings and sports events, there is no mention of reduced class sizes in our schools.

The Government has been forced to extend the deadline for new applicants to the pandemic unemployment payment. It must be accepted that this payment and other wage supports need to be secured for the foreseeable future while there is a possibility of rolling lockdowns and closure of businesses. There has been no mention of people with disabilities in these guidelines. These people are being left behind by the Government in terms of reduced capacity in our care centres and reduced respite services. Prior to Covid, people with disabilities were attending classes five days per week. Many of them have seen either a reduction in the number of days or hours that they can attend, or both in some cases.

Regarding visitation rights in our hospitals and care homes, I appreciate that the framework allows for visits across the health care system, and I particularly welcome that it allows for visits on compassionate grounds. We need to ensure that this continues as we cannot underestimate the need for family support for people at the start of life and at the end of life. As a mother of five children, I had the experience of having my fourth child completely on my own. Thankfully, everything went okay. I cannot imagine how that experience would have been or is for any woman left completely on her own in a clinical environment.

The announcement of this roadmap was welcomed but it only ever appeared to give a broad outline of the procedures by which we are to live. The specifics of it were never detailed. For example, I have heard from principals of schools in Clare that they are winging the guidelines, with some of them carrying out temperature checks and others not doing so. They feel that they are burdened with ensuring that the guidelines are being adhered to. The messaging around the guidelines has not been clear, concise or coherent. This needs to be rectified.

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