Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There have been more cases of Covid-19 per million people in Ireland over the past seven days than anywhere else in the world. There is a complete lack of focus on some factors that have not been addressed. Experts, including Professor Anthony Staines, believe the following four factors apply. The Government decided not to test adequately for Covid-19. In fact, Ireland was one of the only western countries that was neither carrying out testing at airports nor requiring incoming passengers to have a clear PCR Covid test within 72 hours of boarding a flight to Ireland. We now know circumstances have changed. For many, I fear it is too late. I have been calling for rapid testing at airports nearly since the start of the pandemic but my calls fell on deaf ears. The overall testing regime lacked any strategy and planning and it was not of the scale required. There was an utter lack of meaningful implementation in respect of compelling individuals entering the country to self-isolate for 14 days. The overall plan is akin to flying blind. There is no strategy and there is no proper plan; instead, it is a complete case of making it up as one goes along. The Government's overall approach has been all over the place and extremely confusing. For example, we do not know whether the 54,000 people who flew into Dublin over the Christmas period quarantined properly because the Government put no proper measures in place. The UK variant of Covid-19 that arrived in Ireland was almost certainly brought by someone who flew into Dublin and did not quarantine adequately.

There are many more reasons I would like to read out but I must mention the student nurses and the way they have been treated throughout the pandemic. They are now being offered €100. It is an absolute disgrace even to consider offering that to people working at the front line. I even hear the pay of fourth-year students earning €14 per hour is now to be reduced to €10.60 per hour because it is said that the pandemic is under control. It is not under control in any manner.

I commend hospitals such as Bantry General Hospital, which has had to operate under extreme pressure. I commend the staff and all concerned.

Staff providing ambulance and home help services are looking for the vaccine. They are going from door to door so we need to have the vaccine rolled out properly. There are some rumours that it is being rolled out properly up the country but that is certainly not the case regarding the west Cork home helps. The Taoiseach, Tánaiste and other members of the Government took credit on 8 December when Ireland was at the bottom of the Covid-19 case table. Equally, they must now take full responsibility for the fact that, in four weeks, Ireland went from the best in Europe to the worst in the world where cases of Covid-19 per head of population are concerned. Ireland's dramatic surge in Covid-19 cases has made headlines all over the world. The words "too little, too late" come to mind.

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