Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Let us look at this exact same issue from another angle. Listen to these words: "We are having big outbreaks that we simply cannot get a handle on because we don't have the resources." Those are the words of a public health employee that were reported in the Irish Examinerlast night. One of her colleagues reported that 150 new cases came in over the weekend but that none of her staff could go near any of them because they are run off their feet and did not have time to do so. Dr. Ann Dee, a consultant in public health medicine, told theIrish Examiner: "Unless the country wants to live in lockdown permanently every few weeks for the rest of the winter then the government needs to give us staff to be able to handle what is happening." She added: "The regional public health system is as close to collapse as it has been than at any time before." The Government line is that there is a multimillion euro recruitment package that will benefit the regional public health departments soon enough. Dr. Dee's reply to that is that she does not expect to see any new boots on the ground until early in the new year, which is at least three months away. What will happen in the meantime?

I am a supporter of masking up. I am opposed to the Tánaiste's suggestion that people should be fined €50 for not wearing a mask. I am in favour of voluntary compliance with restrictions and I am confident the Irish people will accept increased restrictions if they are demonstrably necessary to defend public health and if the proper supports are put in place. What sticks in the throats of people, however, are the facts that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have failed to build a strong public health service capable of withstanding a powerful wave of the virus and that lockdown may be necessary to compensate for those failures.

Dr. Chris Luke, based in Cork city, told TheEchothat there were no critical care beds available in Cork city hospitals on Monday night and that there were just five general beds available. Is that a surprise when the State has 6.5 ICU beds per 100,000 of the population? In Germany, by contrast, the figure is 38.7, which is six times higher. In 2018, this country had 2.3 general hospital beds per 1,000 of the population. Thirty years earlier, in 1988, the figure was nine, which was nearly four times higher.

When Dr. Mary Favier told "Morning Ireland" that she supports level 5, because she fears there will not be a bed available for someone who has had a bad traffic accident or needs emergency cardiac surgery in November, she made a point that was less about the power of the virus and more about the failures of successive Governments. I have two questions. First, can the Taoiseach fast-track the recruitment of the new public health staff that Dr. Ann Dee expects to see on the ground in the new year, and can the bulk of those staff be put into position within the next month? Second, restrictions are on the increase. There needs to be an increase in the supports. What is the Taoiseach's view on restoring the pandemic unemployment payment to €350, reintroducing the blanket ban on evictions and seriously extending the mortgage moratorium?

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