Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Deputies who contributed. I have taken note of the points they raised and, as is my practice when wrapping up, I will address the concerns raised by Deputies who are still in the Chamber as best I can.

Deputy Michael Collins has spoken twice this evening, which is unusual, but, needless to say, I welcome his contributions. On education, he raised the same issue with me twice, namely, that students and other constituents of his wish to know whether the students may travel home. The answer is "Yes". Of course, they can return to their place of residence. I recommend that the Deputy visit the section of gov.ie that deals with Covid. It lists the various level 5 restrictions, including those relating to domestic travel and retail. I encourage him to download that information and send it to his constituents because the Government does not wish for people to worry unnecessarily.

The most important thing to which Deputies need to have regard is the language they use. We need to be very clear and uniform in our language because we need to ensure there is public confidence. We must tell the public exactly what is in place and guide them in the proper way. It is incumbent on every Member of the House, regardless of whether they agree with the Government, to ensure there is public confidence in terms of level 5. My colleague, Deputy Cowen, and Deputy Durkan rightly commented on that. People sometimes wonder how we have ended up at level 5, but we must understand that everybody needs to work together to protect those who are vulnerable in communities. We need to ensure that, as an Oireachtas, all Members work closely together to ensure that happens.

Deputy Naughten raised the issue of modular units for Portiuncula University Hospital, which is in my county. That forms part of the winter capital plan. I am glad to state that the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, will be meeting me in the coming week to address progress on that matter. It fell under the very welcome €600 million winter plan that has been announced.

An issue that was repeatedly raised is that of HSE contact tracing. The recruitment process for 800 contact tracers has begun. Many Deputies referred to the Defence Forces. Some 50 of its members are already working in contact tracing and 70 new cadets will begin contact tracing next week.

I thank Deputy Carthy for acknowledging the budget allocation for disabilities. It was fought for and delivered. Of the €120 million allocation, €100 million is being added into the base and €20 million is a once-off allocation. The Deputy also raised the issue of a group home for Carrickmacross. This issue has been going on for many years. The people of Carrickmacross and my Oireachtas colleagues can rest assured that I am organising a meeting with the HSE to expedite the long-term arrangement required for the provision of nursing and medical care, as well as addressing the funding required to ensure the house can be opened. My ambition is that that will happen in 2021. Plans are already afoot in that regard.

The issue of meat plants was raised. It is important for Deputies to know that there have been just three new outbreaks in meat plants this week.

The issue of a nursing home in Galway, my constituency, was raised. It is important to understand the sequence of events there. The HSE has been in direct contact with the nursing home in east Galway, near the Roscommon border, since 18 October and tested all its staff and residents on 19 October. The HSE is providing expert advice on the ground and its outbreak control team, to which Deputy Naughten, referred is in place. There is a stable staff in place for the coming days. The HSE is actively involved in that situation.

A Sinn Féin Deputy asked about Alcoholics Anonymous, AA. It has been approved for inclusion on the special list of additional services that may continue to operate.

Those are the outstanding issues. It is important to put on the record that the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, could not be present this evening as he is meeting the 221+ patient support group. It requested that meeting yesterday. If the Minister did not have to attend it, he would be here to answer Deputies' question.

I thank my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, for coming to the House to deal with the issue of hand sanitisers which was raised by several Deputies. He answered their questions, so I do not need to revisit the issue.

I thank Members for the productive and timely debate on the situation currently facing the country. From the outset, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, has tried to be as clear and honest as possible about the gravity of the situation we are facing. We are dealing with a medical emergency while lacking the kind of tools, such as medicines and vaccines, on which we would normally rely. We are not without hope. We have got this far. The virus was under control once before. We can and will get it under control again. However, all indicators of disease incidence and severity have continued to worsen in recent weeks. In the past week, there have been almost 9,000 cases. The national 14-day incidence rate now stands at 291 cases per 100,000 population.

In response to the rapidly deteriorating epidemiological situation across the country, this week the Government had to make some very difficult decisions to protect public health. It did so by moving the entire country to level 5 of the plan for living with Covid for the next six weeks. It is important to remember that we are not alone. The World Health Organization, WHO, is currently reporting more than 40 million cases of Covid-19 detected across 235 countries. Tragically, it is also reporting that there have been more than 1.1 million deaths from the disease. This week, it reported that the European region had seen the highest increase in cases and deaths thus far, at 25% and 29%, respectively. I wish to pass on my sympathies to all families that have been impacted with the loss of a loved one.

Europe has reported the greatest proportion of new cases globally. What we are seeing in Ireland is, unfortunately, part of a concerning trend across the Continent. We can expect that the increase in the number of cases within the community will lead to the virus becoming more prevalent among vulnerable populations. The increase will also, in turn, lead to more people being admitted to hospital and intensive care units. Unfortunately, the sad reality is that we can expect more people to die as a result of Covid-19.

That is why the Government decided to move to level 5 restrictions this week. It did so to interrupt the chains of transmission, get the virus back under control and put the country back into a position whereby the public health system has sufficient capacity to manage the reduced case numbers we hope to see. The measures we have put in place are very much in line with what is happening elsewhere in Europe. In fact, there are more severe restrictions in place in certain countries. There are curfews in Belgium and parts of France and a ban on the sale of alcohol after 8 p.m. in Belgium, while restrictions have recently been tightened in Italy. Wales has entered a circuit breaker lockdown, while several areas in the north of England have been placed into the highest level of restrictions available under the regime in place there. The virus is also surging in parts of North America and elsewhere.

It is clear from the way the virus is spreading rapidly that we are a long way off achieving herd immunity against Covid. It is important that people remember the three "Cs", namely, crowds, close contacts and close spaces. That message has not changed since Covid arrived in Ireland in February. The three things that have been asked of people since last February continue to be required. We need to wear a mask, keep our distance and wash our hands. Deputies need to stay on message when speaking to the general public. We need to keep the people with us. Most importantly, as an Oireachtas, we should be unified in how we deliver our message on keeping people safe.

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