Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I compliment the Minister and Minister of State, Deputy Butler on their work. Mental health is a huge issue within the Covid-19 scenario, one that we cannot underestimate.

We are in a loaves-and-fishes situation in terms of the administration of the vaccines. I propose to focus on the prioritisation of particular sectors within my community that have made representations to me. A couple of weeks ago, I was criticised in the national media for making representations on behalf of front-line workers at Nenagh hospital. As long as I am privileged to be a Member of this House, I will make no apologies for making representations in regard to the genuine grievances of my constituents. Thankfully, some of the staff have been vaccinated. It was unfortunate that other hospitals within this group received the vaccine and that Nenagh hospital was left behind.

As previous speakers noted, carers need to be moved higher up the priority list. It makes no sense that the patients for whom they are caring will be vaccinated and they will not. They are an essential part of our battle against Covid and their assistance is vital to people being cared for in their own homes. We are all aware of the pressure our hospitals are under. I urge the Minister to look at the higher prioritisation of carers within the vaccination programme.

Teachers, SNAs and school staff also need to be vaccinated. We all want to see our schools to be reopened as quickly as possible. The Minister also needs to review where these staff are on the priority list in terms of vaccination. Pharmacists and pharmacy staff can play an important role in the roll-out of the vaccine. When there is greater availability of the vaccines, pharmacists will hopefully play a key role in administering them. Pharmacists and their staff need to be prioritised for vaccination in order that they will be able to administer the vaccines safely.

When I was in the Chamber earlier I heard a point made about undertakers. Undertakers have to deal with people who have died from Covid and as such they are at risk of contracting the virus. As in the case of deaths from other causes, they have to meet the families and large numbers of people. Their case for higher prioritisation in terms of vaccination is overwhelming. I ask the Minister to also review their position on the priority list for vaccination. Cancer support centres and other groups that are meeting many people also have a strong case for higher prioritisation for vaccination.

I would like to comment on the agrifood sector and veterinarians. In the spring time, veterinarians have an extremely large workload. They might have to visit up to 25 farms per day.

They have a lot of exposure to different people. There is talk that they will be used to administer the vaccine when we have more quantities of it. Vets should be given greater prioritisation for vaccination.

Later in the spring, industries will be under pressure if there is a cluster of infections in their vicinity. Much of the focus in the past year was on meat processing facilities and the clusters that were there. We have spare capacity in that sector across the country and we will be able to deal with them if there are clusters there. We hope there will not be any such clusters as we move forward. Milk processing peaks between mid-April and 1 June. We have absolutely no spare capacity in that processing sector. I ask the Minister to look at the possibility that workers in milk processing would be prioritised for vaccination.

I know the Minister has an awful lot of people roaring at him to prioritise them for vaccination. I am making the case for constituents of mine who, in my view, have a genuine case for priority. I ask him to look at those groups.

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