David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My colleague wants to contribute, so I will ask a final question on the vaccine before putting a question to the Minister about what is happening in our acute hospitals. We are all getting genuine queries from different cohorts of the population about where they will be in the roll-out of the vaccine. Carers and home helpers are two categories of people from whom we are getting many calls. Where do they come in the roll-out? The Minister stated that he would publish the priority list of front-line healthcare workers from which hospital managers were working. I asked for it last week but I still have not received it. It is important that it be published. When are carers and home helpers likely to receive the vaccine?

Regarding acute hospitals, and as I told the Minister, I am dealing with various representative groups and have met many of them. They are very worried about what they are dealing with and what they anticipate they will deal with next week and the week after, given the increasing number of hospitalisations. They are sore about the fact that investments in ICU and hospital capacity were not made to their satisfaction. There has been no rapid modular build to any great degree. We called for that in the summer. There are issues with public health specialists, who called off strike action and are now sore that that was not recognised by the Minister in a positive way. Hospital consultants have raised pay equality issues and student nurses and midwives have legitimate pay claims. They see all of these issues and the failure to deal with same as a failure to value the work they do. Will the Minister engage with the representative groups on these issues? Those on the front line are dealing with a dire situation and the seething anger they feel at these issues not being dealt with is genuine and palpable.

Will the Minister address my points in the short time available?

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