Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Health earlier, when he was here, referred to other jurisdictions cancelling elective surgeries and other health services. That is new for them and something to which they are not used. It is not new in this jurisdiction, however, because elective surgery is cancelled all the time.

Last year, University Hospital Limerick was in full capacity protocol for over 90% of the year. When full capacity protocol is brought in, it means that elective surgeries are cancelled, people are placed on trolleys in corridors, emergency departments and in extra wards and there is aggressive discharge of patients. This might be new for other jurisdictions but it is not new for us. In fact, that is how the Government runs the health service. It is short-staffed, overcrowded and so forth. As pointed out by NPHET, we all know the reasons it was necessary to go to level 5.

5 o’clock

It is because we do not have capacity within our health service. The NVRL will be closed this weekend due to unavoidable staff shortages. We have known for years that our hospitals are routinely overcrowded and the infection risk that poses. We have known that since the last time Fianna Fáil was in government. We represented nurses at the time. The Minister and his party knows that. It is still widely known but they do nothing about it. Other countries are probably experiencing this for the first time. In Ireland it is not news.

The level 5 plans contain a great deal of emphasis on fining individuals for individual actions. I see that the Tánaiste has released one of his wee videos encouraging people to work from home. Where are the sanctions for employers who do not let their staff work from home where they can? One example can be found in an office not far from where we are now. When the country went into lockdown in March, five laptops were ordered for the five senior managers, who then worked from home. Other staff were advised to get on public transport and come into the office to work. The Minister is very big on individual fines, individual responsibility and individual shaming, but there are no sanctions for that employer. It is all very well to encourage people to work from home. What are the sanctions for employers who do not allow it?

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