Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time. I will stick to my time, which will preclude me from saying many things. The Taoiseach spoke about how there was no handbook to guide the Government at the beginning of the pandemic, but common sense would have guided anybody at the time to protect the nursing homes, direct provision, those working in meat plants and so on. That is what common sense would dictate. At this point, common sense dictates that we look at those most needing our assistance, those who are saving the economy millions of euro, namely, carers, as the Minister of State knows better than I do. There is absolutely no respite and I do not see it at the top of anybody's list. I acknowledge that the Ministers of State, Deputies Rabbitte and Butler, have done their best in respect of day centres and respite, but it is simply not adequate to the need. It seems the Government is premising its solution on the basis that when somebody physically or mentally has a breakdown, the service will kick in to give respite. That is totally unacceptable. Any measure of our economy should be how we treasure those who save the State a fortune, and they are mostly women.

There are false arguments about NPHET all the time. There was the spin from the Tánaiste, which did very well, the spin from the Taoiseach, which did not do as well, the undermining of NPHET and all the false messages going out. There was the distinction between wet and dry pubs, which was absurd from day one and a waste of Garda time, with gardaí going in to see who was eating a substantial meal. There were the draconian measures we did not need, described as such by the Policing Authority. The Garda told the Government it did not need any more powers as it had plenty. The Policing Authority complimented the Garda and, more important, the vast majority of the people who were - I forget the exact words - surprisingly compliant. That is how we have reduced our numbers. It is worth remembering that all our actions were prefaced, in the first instance, on a very bad health system, where the panicked reaction suggested that the health system would be overwhelmed because we had run it down for so long. Then there was the daft arrangement with the private hospitals where we paid them to remain empty while people were going under at home, with no day centre and no respite. It is mind-boggling.

I will use my remaining time as a voice to say to Deputy Rabbitte, at some level as a woman and a female Minister of State, let us do something different here to provide respite. Let us not wait for the breakdown. Let us do it positively. Carers are doing us a marvellous service. I am ashamed and embarrassed. I recently got a response to a parliamentary question but did not have the courage to give it to the person affected to say there was no respite. This is somebody who is up day and night, although I will not go into the details. We do not need more anecdotes; we need action.

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