Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Thank you. I cannot speak on Covid without acknowledging that it has been an incredibly difficult few weeks for our country, but particularly for my county of Mayo. I want to put on record my thanks to the staff of Mayo University Hospital for their extraordinary efforts, which are ongoing, and to the GPs and ambulance drivers across the county, who have been faced with huge challenges. My thoughts are with all the families who have lost people.

I say to the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, that communities around the country, not just in Mayo, need mental health supports to guide them through this very difficult time. I would like her to put some time into rolling out mental health supports, as well as the vaccine programme that will roll out in the coming weeks.

I want to acknowledge the work that has been done to date on the vaccine programme. We saw over the weekend the vaccination of GPs and the beginning of vaccinations in the major hospitals. I want to acknowledge the management and staff of Saolta University Health Care Group for the work they have done.

I am listening this morning and I am garnering information all the time on who is in what group. That information is not publicly known or is not widely known. We need to get a communications plan that actually explains to people in clear and simple language who is in what group and when they can genuinely expect to get it. The Department showed the ability to get information out to every house in the country around Covid initially. What we need now is a plan that goes to every house in the country and we should not assume that people are going to see it on Facebook or Instagram or in the newspapers. Every house in the country needs to get some sort of communication once the Minister has an idea on supplies, and I would ask him to think of that.

I am also concerned about the decision by the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, around family carers and home helps in particular. I know it is focusing its concentration on the client, but the client would not be in the health they are in without the work and commitment of the family carer, the home help and carers generally. I would ask the Minister to engage once again with NIAC around that. We have seen that hospitals were flexible around vaccine doses. When administering a vaccine dose, surely the person who is keeping another person healthy should also be considered, and should also be considered as vulnerable. Family carers, home helps and carers are front-line staff. Much of the focus of our Covid policy to date has been on keeping people out of hospitals. The extraordinary work of carers is doing that and doing much more, and we need to acknowledge them.

The information we are getting is that the GPs and pharmacists will be part of the roll-out but pharmacists still do not have any idea where they and their staff will fit into the timeline. If they are going to be on the front line of the roll-out, I would ask that, similar to last weekend, we organise mass vaccination centres for them around the country.

Similarly, palliative care nurses who are with families in their darkest hours also need guidance around that. I also seek confirmation on those. I welcome the note the Minister gave in relation to those with conditions such as cystic fibrosis. We need that information to get out to people. The vaccination process will be done through GPs and pharmacists. We need a much wider roll-out than we have had to date. We need vaccination centres in all large towns so that people can get it done quickly. Many people are unable to travel to major urban centres. Consideration must be given to how we get it to those who are housebound.

Will the Minister tell us his thoughts on the communication plan? Will he look at the graphic which Deputy Lahart prepared last week on the communication plan? That showed simply, based on current projections, where it is going. We need simple, effective communication. There should not be an assumption that everyone has access to social media.

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