Dáil debates

Wednesday, 16 December 2020

Impact of Covid-19 Restrictions: Motion [Private Members]

 

10:20 am

Photo of Stephen DonnellyStephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “Dáil Eireann” and substitute the following:

“acknowledges:

— the extraordinary solidarity, determination and resilience shown this year by communities and citizens in Ireland’s fight against Covid-19;

— the widespread support and adherence to public health measures by the public, communities, voluntary organisations and workplaces; and

— the critical contributions of workers and volunteers across Irish society, including healthcare, education, childcare, justice, the voluntary sector, retail, distribution, utilities, hospitality and many more;

notes the enormous human, societal and economic costs of the Covid-19 pandemic, including:

— a total of 2,126 Covid-19 related deaths and more than a total of 76,449 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland;

— the adverse impact of Covid-19 on existing hospital waiting lists;

— a significant impact on mental health and well-being and the need for a corresponding increase in mental health services and supports across the country;

— an increase in isolation and loneliness for many people due to the impact of Covid-19 measures;

— the closure of many viable businesses across the country and the devastating impact on particular sectors including the arts, hospitality, tourism and sport; and

— an increase in the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to 7.5 per cent with 71,800 more people unemployed compared to last year;

further notes that, thanks to the collective efforts of the Irish people:

— Ireland currently has the lowest 14-day and 7-day incidence rates of Covid-19 in the European Union;

— Ireland’s hospitals, including critical care facilities, have not been overrun due to Covid-19; and

— Ireland has had the biggest fall in Covid-related deaths of any European country in Wave Two compared to Wave One;

further again notes the all-of-Government response to Covid-19, including:

— fiscal support of over €25 billion, mostly in the form of ‘direct’ taxation and expenditure measures;

— the recent public service pay deal, which is heavily weighted towards those at lower incomes with a headline increase of approximately 5 per cent for the lowest paid public servants;

— weekly payments valued to hundreds of thousands for people in receipt of the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment to help cushion the population from sudden income shocks at a cost of €4.8 billion;

— essential financial supports provided to community and voluntary organisations and social enterprises to enable them to continue to provide essential goods and services on a local level for communities across the country in the form of the €4.2 million Covid-19 Emergency Fund and the €45 million Covid Stability Fund, as well as a €5 million Innovate Together Fund focused on supporting innovative responses to the Covid-19 crisis, and a range of other rural investment schemes being provided by Government;

— protective measures to ensure ongoing provision of healthcare including €4 billion to protect, reform and expand health and social care services and implement universal healthcare in Budget 2021; and

— measures to protect the elderly, vulnerable groups and those experiencing loneliness and social isolation, including significant funding for mental health services, with that budget increasing to €1.076 billion in 2021;

affirms its support for vaccines;

welcomes the plans to approve and rollout vaccines for Covid-19 in Ireland in early 2021, or potentially to commence in late 2020; and

notes and applauds the success of the Health Service Executive and patient advocates in reversing the fall in uptake of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.”

I thank the Deputies for tabling the motion and giving us all the opportunity to discuss Ireland's response to Covid-19. I acknowledge the very positive responses from many colleagues to the vaccination strategy that was launched yesterday. I also thank colleagues for their ongoing advocacy regarding the importance, safety and efficacy of vaccinations.

It is safe to say we have had a challenging year as we battled with this global pandemic. It has been a year marked by awful tragedy for many who have lost loved ones and have not been able to mourn for them in the way that we need to in our culture. It has been a year marked by sickness for many more people who have been seriously debilitated by Covid-19 and a year in which many of us have experienced feelings of despair, frustration and awful loneliness.

Against this difficult backdrop in the midst of a global pandemic, the people of Ireland have shown great fortitude, great resilience and great solidarity. As we come to the end of the Dáil term and prepare for Christmas, I would like to pay tribute to the efforts of everyone right across the country this year for everything they have done.

Regarding this debate, I have tabled an amendment to the motion, which I hope colleagues from all parties and none can support in a show of political solidarity. It notes that we the Members of Dáil Éireann acknowledge the extraordinary solidarity, determination and resilience shown this year by communities and citizens in Ireland's fight against Covid-19; the widespread support and adherence to public health measures by the public, communities, voluntary organisations and people in workplaces; and the critical contributions of workers and volunteers right across society, including in healthcare, education, childcare, justice, the voluntary sector, retail, distribution, utilities, hospitality and many more.

The amendment also asks that Dáil Éireann notes the enormous human, societal and economic costs of the pandemic, including, most tragically, 2,134 lives lost to Covid-19 this year and nearly 77,000 confirmed cases; the adverse impact of Covid-19 on existing hospital waiting lists, as Deputies quite rightly spoke about; a significant impact on mental health and well-being and the need for a corresponding increase in mental health services and supports across Ireland; an increase in isolation and loneliness for many people due to the impact of Covid-19 measures; the closure of many viable businesses right across Ireland and the devastating impact on particular sectors including the arts, hospitality, tourism sport and many more; and an increase in the unemployment rate to 7.5% with nearly 72,000 more people unemployed compared to last year.

The amendment further notes that thanks to the collective efforts of people, Ireland has currently has the lowest 14-day and seven-day incidence rates of Covid-19 in the EU; our hospitals, including critical care facilities, have not been overrun because to Covid-19; and Ireland has had the biggest fall in Covid-related deaths of any European country between wave one and wave two.

The amendment also notes the supports put in place, including fiscal support of more than €25 billion, including in the form of direct taxation and expenditure measures; the recent public service pay deal, which is heavily weighted towards those on lower incomes with a headline increase of approximately 5% for the lowest paid public servants; weekly payments valued to hundreds of thousands of euro for people in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, to help cushion the population from sudden income shocks at a cost of nearly €5 billion; essential financial supports provided to community and voluntary organisations and social enterprises to enable them to continue to provide essential goods and services on a local level for communities across the country - this is in the form of the €4.2 million Covid-19 emergency fund and the €45 million Covid stability fund, as well as a €5 million innovate together fund and a range of other rural investment schemes being provided by Government; protective measures to ensure ongoing provision of healthcare, including €4 billion to protect, reform and expand health and social care services and implement universal healthcare in budget 2021; and measures to protect the elderly, vulnerable groups and those experiencing loneliness and social isolation, including significant funding for mental health services, with that budget increasing to nearly €1.1 billion next year.

Finally and importantly, the amendment affirms Dáil Éireann's support for vaccines. It welcomes the plan to approve and roll-out vaccines for Covid-19 in Ireland in early 2021, or based on news we got yesterday, perhaps in the last few days of 2020. It notes and applauds the success of the HSE and patient advocates in reversing the fall in uptake of the HPV vaccine, which helps prevent cervical and other cancers and is saving many lives. It notes the achievements by patients such as Laura Brennan, a powerful advocate who died in early 2019 and whose advocacy will have saved many lives. Laura used her voice, selflessness and courage to advocate for the life-saving HPV vaccine and to help people make informed choices. Her advice to get the full information about vaccines from reputable sources is as important today as it was when she gave it in 2018.

I know Deputies will play their part when it comes to public health and information about vaccines. I reiterate my thanks to them for their support and advocacy on their own behalf and on behalf of the their parties to date on this issue.

It has been a dark and difficult year in more ways than we can count for people right across our country. I am hopeful for what the coming year, 2021, will bring. I am immensely proud of what Ireland has achieved during the year in what has been a very tough period. Right now, we have the lowest 14-day and seven-day incidence rates of Covid of any country in Europe. Many of our nearest neighbours and friends are having to tighten restrictions over Christmas due to a surge in infections. Our thoughts are very much with the people of Northern Ireland. We have all seen the news of some of the issues they are having to deal with.

As a nation, we took decisive and proactive action and put in place level 5 restrictions for a period of six weeks in late October but the thanks for that does not go to the Government or to us in Dáil Éireann but to the people who backed that advice, got behind those measures and implemented them. What we have seen are the results of everybody's efforts. The daily case rate fell from 1,200 to 250 and the 14-day incidence rate fell from nearly 310 to just below 80. According to modelling from NPHET, this action by the Irish people has led to the prevention of tens of thousands of cases, the prevention of between 800 and more than 2,000 hospitalisations and the prevention of many deaths. Thanks to what people have done through the year, through the level 5 restrictions and through the past few weeks in sticking with the level 3 restrictions, hundreds and men and women will have dinner with their families on Christmas day who otherwise would not have. I immensely proud of our nation and how we have responded to make that happen.

We learned valuable lessons during the first wave. We ensured that nursing homes got the supports they needed. We carried out serial testing in high-risk areas and we have expanded our testing and tracing scheme. These are just some of the actions we have taken.

We all know that the challenge is far from over, but the promise of vaccines brings hope and light at the end of a dark year. The gains made in reducing transmission were hard won and will be hard to maintain, but as we have shown right from the start, Ireland is more than up to the challenge. We will continue to mind one another and keep one another safe, and we will emerge from this time in our history as we entered it - together.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.