Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is a very important debate. I will address the Deputy's last point first: the Government is playing its part in that it is the duty of the Government to pass adequate funding to develop the health services. In this huge crisis, we have a budget like never before. There are significant supports in place. There are issues with the HSE and how it is operating. I am very concerned about testing and tracing in my constituency. Two primary schools have contacted me this week. One had a positive test from a child over the weekend. The school was contacted on Monday, they contacted the public health section of the north-east HSE and still had not received a reply by close of business last night. In a second school, a second child in the same class has tested positive for Covid. The two children are in different pods within that classroom. While the class is at home, the teacher is concerned that she may have passed it on to children in another part of school where she also worked. There is a huge responsibility on the HSE to ensure that primary school principals receive a response to their very serious request when a school has a positive case with a child. It is not acceptable to me that I should have received two calls from teachers yesterday who at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. last night, were very distressed and concerned about the children in the school. That is a test that we are not passing right now in Louth. The public health section is not doing its work which is entirely unacceptable.

A hotline for school principals has been suggested so that they could contact the public health manager. The schools have made the contacts but they have not received any response at all. It was also proposed that there could be an online meeting at which schools could get a direct reply and where public health officials could reassure the teachers so that they could reassure the students and parents.

The legislation to extend the sunset clause is very important but ultimately the answer to this is literally in our own hands. It is up to each individual to play their part. Regardless of any rules which the Government brings in, it is up to people to make up their own minds on them. It is particularly unfair on the Garda who are doing a fantastic job in very difficult circumstances. The last thing a garda needs is to go to a house where there is a party and people congregating inside and outside. That is fine in normal circumstances but not when Covid-19 is rampant. I support what the gardaí are doing, that they will engage with people first and encourage them to cease the activity, advise them of their error in public order and health, persuade them and last, and finally, use the penalties, which are graduated. It is important to stress that. The gardaí are very helpful. It is a very difficult time for them, too. It is the exceptional cases where penalties must be imposed. That is at the heart of the legislation and the intention of the gardaí.

What alternatives can be provided, particularly to young people? How do they live in our society with Covid-19? We should look again at the restrictions on people who want to participate in sport on their own. I have had representations, as I am sure have all Members, from people asking why rugby and GAA can go ahead but golf cannot. If I go to my golf course already kitted out and do not enter the club house at all, can I go around on my own? Is that not possible? Does it make sense, provided no one congregates in the car park afterwards? That point has been made strongly to me. If it is possible to play tennis, why not golf? That is in the context of people acting with diligence. There is also the closure of gyms, when exercise plays such an important part in the mental health and well-being of tens of thousands of our citizens. I do not have the detail to hand but I understand that the British Parliament has proposed legislation which allow gyms to operate for people to get their exercise as a solitary, independent activity and improve their mental health and well-being in a way that involves the appropriate and required proper distancing. It is important that we address that as it would be very helpful. Part of the issue is that in most cases, it is the very small minority who are perpetuating Covid by not obeying the regulations. If we can provide alternative sports for people it would be important.

Mol an óige, agus tiocfaidh sí. We must praise young people and use those who influence them in how they go about things.

While young people will not listen to the Minister or me, or even to the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, they will listen to their sports idols, for example, and the people whose music they play - and who they follow and love - sometimes very loudly indeed. We need to look again at how we get the message across to and interact more with the individuals whom young people admire. We should seek the help of the very constructive and positive individuals who can engage with young people and whose interventions would be very welcome to them, as opposed to having a them versus us situation. The most important thing is that we are all in it together and working together to improve the situation.

Earlier, questions were raised in the House about the situation in nursing homes, with people finding themselves in very serious circumstances and, in some cases, without support. From what I hear, no nursing support is being provided in some instances. If there is evidence of a decision by unions and the HSE that militates against the well-being of people who are sick in private nursing homes - I believe there is such evidence - that is entirely unacceptable. There are documents which show that, in April, an agreement was reached between a group of unions and the HSE that if a nurse is asked to go into a private nursing home, he or she cannot be mandated to do so. If it is a public nursing home or public hospital, that is fine, but the agreement expressly states that it is optional for a nurse or other medical person to go into a private nursing home and there is a right of refusal in that regard. I do not know what has happened in the facilities in the counties that were mentioned earlier but I am deeply concerned about it.

There is clear evidence of what happened in a nursing home in County Louth. Freedom of information requests have shown, clearly and absolutely, that, first, agency nursing staff did not turn up at the last minute and, second, that a doctor who had patients in that nursing home, while he would issue prescriptions, he had to be contacted and persuaded by medical experts in the local hospital to gown up and go in to see those patients. These are very serious issues which are fundamental to our ability to look after and care for people, particularly in nursing homes. There cannot be a division between public and private patients in terms of the professional assistance they are entitled to receive from medical professionals or other qualified persons. Anything to the contrary is, in my belief, against the oath and the principle of care. The agreement that was made between the HSE and the unions is unacceptable in that context. People were challenging as to why HSE staff did not turn up in a particular nursing home. I do not know happened there, but the fact is that the HSE cannot direct personnel to turn up at private facilities. It has signed an agreement to that effect and it deeply concerns me. We must make sure that the most vulnerable in our society are helped and that there is no barrier, including a union agreement or HSE agreement, which prevents that from happening.

There are other questions that arise out of the freedom of information requests to which I referred. Deputies from other parties know what I am talking about. We are in a real crisis here and, in dealing with that crisis, we must have absolute clarity about how we care for people. There cannot be a barrier or impediment to answering a cry for help from anybody, particularly those who are the weakest and most vulnerable in our society. At this moment, the most vulnerable, because they are the ones most likely to die from Covid-19, are people aged over 65, the vast majority of whom have passed away in our nursing homes. We cannot allow the issues I have brought to the Minister's attention to continue. I will give him the information to which I referred and I ask him to act urgently and immediately to ensure the current situation does not continue. I welcome the provisions set out in the motion.

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