Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Sadly, it has been announced this evening that another four people have died of Covid-19. I offer my condolences to their families and to all those that have lost loved ones to Covid-19 here in Ireland.

We have known this winter would be a significant challenge since the Covid-19 pandemic emerged here in March. The pandemic, combined with the flu season, will place enormous challenges on our health service and front-line workers. Pre-Covid, many of our hospitals were already operating at 90-95% capacity. I welcome today's announcement of the €600 million financial commitment made by the Government for this winter plan. In particular, I welcome the plan to provide 892 acute beds with 484 sub-acute beds. The extra capacity will be crucial this winter. The extra 500 isolation beds will provide reassurance that capacity exists if Covid cases continue to increase.

At the heart of the strategy to combat Covid is the strong testing and tracing infrastructure. Extra funding to bring our public health teams to in excess of 3,000 professionals is welcome, as is the commitment to bring the capacity to more than 100,000 test per week. The flu vaccine will be issued to more than 1.5 million people over the coming weeks, starting with front-line workers, schoolchildren and vulnerable members of the community. I welcome innovative plans to allow pharmacists to inoculate people in their cars and other socially distant locations. I am sure all in the House are grateful for the flexibility pharmacists have shown.

I welcome the additional 4.7 million home support hours. People with a disability and the elderly have made huge sacrifices during this pandemic. Many of them lost home care supports during the acute phase of the lockdown in April and May, and this support was gradually reintroduced. Supporting people at home and helping them avoid the need to attend a hospital is critical in this pandemic, particularly as we head into the winter months. The extra support for home help hours is welcome and necessary. Earlier today, we were informed that St. John of God, which provides crucial services not only to my own constituency in Dún Laoghaire but across south Dublin and indeed the rest of the country to more than 8,000 adults and children with disability and their families, would be withdrawing from its HSE contract. The announcement has caused great concern worry in the community, and many people have been in contact with my office today. Covid-19 has been exceptionally difficult for those families, and this is adding an additional stress and strain. I ask the Minister to intervene directly with the HSE. We must ensure continuity of service for this cohort. I hope the Minister can give us assurances this evening.

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