Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

In an interview in last Sunday's The Sunday Times, the Taoiseach said that, "The government will introduce retrospective contact tracing of Covid cases for the first time once daily case numbers fall to manageable numbers". He went on to say that he believed that, "a robust approach to tracking the infection pathways of each case of Covid-19 backwards from the point of diagnosis [...] will help to suppress the [virus]". It is quite extraordinary that is only talking about that approach at this point. Some 12 months into the Covid-19 pandemic, the Taoiseach is talking about tracking down where the virus is being transmitted. Some of us have been asking for that to be done for a very long time.

Retrospective tracking and tracing, of course, goes back 14 days, it establishes where the virus was picked up, whether it has come from abroad and if the transmission occurred in restaurants, family gatherings or workplaces, for example.

It is absolutely essential information for the management of a pandemic. NPHET called for that last August. Who does the Taoiseach think is going to do that work? It is essential work, but who is going to do it? Public health doctors are the people who have the expertise to carry out this work. We should, of course, have a properly resourced public health doctor service but unfortunately we do not have that at the moment. Properly resourced public health doctors are an important part of any health service but in a pandemic they are absolutely essential. Yet this service has been starved of funding for many years.

Public health is the only discipline in our health service that does not have the grade of consultant, in spite of having exactly the same qualifications. If the virus numbers are to be brought down and brought under control, a fully staffed, consultant-led regional public health team service is absolutely essential. Will the Taoiseach explain what is the delay in addressing this issue? Three major reports have recommended an upgrading of that service: the Scally report from nearly three years back; the Crowe Horwath report in December 2018; and last year's nursing home expert panel recommendation. Everybody is saying it is essential that a properly resourced public health service is put in place. Is it any wonder that doctors will not come back to work in that service here? Is it any wonder that other countries are recruiting our public health doctors? What will the Taoiseach do to resource this essential service properly? The Taoiseach has been making promises for a very long time and yet no action has been taken. Can the Taoiseach tell us when he is going to do this?

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