Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I was one of the first Deputies to highlight the issue of contact tracing. I was concerned to hear the Minister for Health say that there were 231 contact tracers mid-September, at a time when we had 255 cases daily. At that time, I questioned the Tánaiste and he informed us that there were 400 contact tracers and that we would have to bring in the Army should we need any more. Last week, the previous Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, called for the Army to be brought in and to allow those in other essential services get back to their day jobs, such as providing vital speech therapy services and so on. I am glad we now have nigh on 700 contract tracers with the number of cases standing at 255 per day. I hope the Government understands that it is better to have a couple of thousand contact tracers than it is to have 350,000 people drawing the PUP because of the need to go to level 5 as a result of an ineffective testing and tracing system.

Lockdown restrictions should not be what we need to sort out our testing and tracing. I ask the Government to bear in mind that the purpose of these level 5 restrictions was to increase bed capacity, ICU capacity and ensure that testing and tracing capacity was put in place to keep us out of lockdown. Something the WHO totally disagrees with is the lockdown. While the advice of NPHET must be taken on board, we must have regard also for the many medical and science professionals who disagree with its view and request a balanced approach to other health services, whose needs are equally great. We must take their advice on board also. I will mention a few of those services: our mental health services are overwhelmed, our disability services are overwhelmed, our cancer screening services are non-existent. Failing to recognise their needs, will far outweigh the effects of Covid in the long run.

There is clear evidence that a new approach is required. That approach must encompass more than the element of medical opinion that we have followed to date. I wish the Government appreciated and had equal regard for people's general health as well as for their livelihoods. I hope this will be forthcoming without delay.

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