Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, in the early days of the Covid committee.

8 o’clock

She was one of a number of Deputies who were promoted. I then took up the mantle, which gave me my first opportunity as a new Deputy to experience the work of a committee. I am grateful for being one of the first substitutes on the committee.

I will move on to serious business. Yesterday, the death toll from the virus surpassed 2,000 lives, a sad and sobering milestone for the country. Despite the positive signs regarding a vaccine, it is too early to be excited. As other Deputies have indicated, there is much ground yet to cover and many more decisions that require careful deliberation.

As of 8 a.m., 285 Covid patients were hospitalised, of whom 33 were in ICU, with an additional 29 hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. Figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HPSC, show that the number of virus outbreaks nearly doubled over the past week compared with the previous week. There were 1,027 clusters this past week, up from 572 the previous week, and the number of outbreaks in private houses more than doubled to 954 from 443. There were 20 workplace outbreaks, but the number of school-based outbreaks declined from 24 to ten. Among the total number of workplace outbreaks during the pandemic, 89 have been in food and beverage facilities while 55 have been in meat, poultry or fish processing plants.

I quote these statistics not to scaremonger or delegitimise the significant efforts made by all stakeholders, but to convey that this virus is still prevalent and as deadly as ever and still requires people to be cautious in their activities and to take all necessary precautions when they have to go to work, travel, go to school or whatever the case may be.

The report examines the State's response to Covid-19 as it evolved from early 2020. It undoubtedly highlights specific areas that require ongoing oversight and accountability, which will now be scrutinised by the various sectoral committees of the Oireachtas. I sit on the education committee, and already we have had regular interactions with key stakeholders about how we deal with the virus in schools and ensure that they are as safe as they can be for our students. As recently as this morning, various school staff representatives conveyed their concerns to us about ventilation in schools, social distancing measures and the health of staff and students.

A key finding of the report was that the State became overly focused in February and March on preparing acute hospitals for the oncoming pandemic and failed to recognise the serious risk posed to our most vulnerable people, who were in our nursing homes. The report succinctly details how there were delays in reacting to the deteriorating situation in nursing homes, especially in the provision of PPE and the replacement of staff. Indeed, some of these concerns occur to this day. While major efforts were made by nursing home staff, there are unanswered questions as to why some nursing homes were free of Covid while others were severely impacted in terms of deaths and sickness among residents and staff.

The report's first recommendation - to investigate and report on all circumstances relating to each individual death from Covid-19 through a public inquiry - needs to be followed as quickly as possible. There must be accountability for relatives who lost loved ones in these circumstances. Failure to provide them with answers would only exacerbate the pain and suffering already being experienced by their families.

The main theme running through the report relates to preparedness. This will be necessary as we learn to live with Covid-19, which will be with us for some time to come until we find and supply an effective vaccine. The State will experience periodic peaks and troughs in the incidence of the virus and it is necessary that our public health authorities be given every tool available to react to these fluctuations. The committee was unanimous, in that if we are to avoid further lockdowns, a highly efficient and effective testing and tracing system is a prerequisite. We must strive to do more. Turnaround times need to be improved constantly and new forms of testing need to be considered. Everything needs to be kept under constant review. The State must aspire to facilitate ongoing, uninterrupted serial testing in all congregated settings.

The report highlights the vulnerability of some of our low-paid workers and the need to provide for adequate sick pay entitlements for all. I welcome the Government and Opposition's unanimity in pursuing this goal. It is agreed that many workers attended work in congregated settings, meat factories, direct provision centres and so on out of fear that being absent from work would lead to a loss of income. We need to ensure that adequate sick pay provision is one of the first measures that we implement on foot of the lessons learned during the crisis.

Recommendation No. 7 in the report is that adequate self-isolation facilities need to be a prerequisite in all care settings. Capital works in all publicly owned facilities need to be expedited to ensure that people can live in self-contained units and restrict themselves in communal settings if and when necessary.

Meat plants emerged as significant infection hotspots. While the meat industry is highly regulated in terms of food safety and hygiene, meat factories have highlighted that, just like nursing homes, the same level of regulation and protection does not extend to workers or their conditions of employment.

It must be acknowledged that this crisis has been unprecedented. It has posed a relentless number of challenges to us as a State and to wider society. Emergency legislation, restrictions, lockdowns and other measures might not be palatable, but it needs to be acknowledged that all stakeholders have endeavoured to do their best throughout. We must constantly appraise our performance during the pandemic in a non-partisan, collegial manner. I thank the Chairman for ensuring that spirit prevailed throughout the committee's deliberations.

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