Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As I said to the Deputy, Covid has had an impact. It has resulted in delays. The first lockdown resulted in very significant delays. I do not know what the Deputy's alternative is in terms of what happened in the last number of months. If we take diabetic retinal screening as an example, it resumed on 1 July. Some 20,000 people had been screened by the end of October, so people did come through and it is important to say that. People are turning up for screenings. People are turning up in our hospitals for elective procedures and diagnostic tests. The message we should send out is do attend for screening appointments or diagnostic tests and do go to hospital if not feeling well. It is important we send that message out.

See this speech in context