Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Paul Donnelly. County Meath is in the eye of the Covid-19 storm, with a 14-day incidence number of 1,287, which is 660 cases per 100,000. The people of my county have endured and suffered a great deal, none more so than Mary Bartley Meehan, whose husband, Ultan Meehan, and son, Adrian Bartley, both died during the pandemic. I call on the Government to engage with and support Mary in her quest for information and truth. The people of Meath are anxious but ready to play their part to get the numbers down. The vast majority of people in the country are doing their best but the Government and its agencies have been failing in their responsibility to protect them.

I have been getting a lot of telephone calls about delays in testing and - an issue that is just as significant - delays in notifications of positive test results. We all heard what Dr. Cillian de Gascun of the National Virus Reference Laboratory had to say in this regard earlier today. I have also been inundated by calls regarding delays in tracing. The tracing process was already hugely delayed and then it stopped altogether. There have been Covid outbreaks in schools in Meath and the experience of school management has been that they cannot access advice, support and information. That is not good enough. Instead of creating capacity and increasing resources to deal with the crisis, the Government's answer has been to divert resources. This week, the school immunisation programme was suspended in County Meath. It is simply not good enough. The Government is robbing Peter to pay Paul instead of investing urgently to provide the resources that are needed.

People working in a range of sectors are looking to the Government for help. Business owners and workers throughout the country are crying out for support. I understand that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine will be in the House later. He must, in the first instance, address the situation of mart owners and the issues they have raised. Deputy Cowen outlined those concerns earlier. Travel agents need access to the Covid restrictions support scheme and not just at level 5, as do private bus operators. I have been contacted by a number of essential workers whose work has dried up but who say they are being denied access to the pandemic unemployment payment because they are essential workers. I have heard that from driving instructors, taxi drivers and others. There must be progress to allow self-employed workers to stay on the PUP and earn up to €480 per week. The Government must deliver on its clear commitments in all these areas.

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