Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am still getting calls, as I am sure other Deputies are, from constituents who are housebound and awaiting vaccination. These are people within older age categories. The questions they ask relate to who contacts them in the first place, when they will be contacted and the process that will be involved. I understand the ambulance service provides the vaccinations.

I would like if the Minister could give us a sense as to where testing and tracing will go over the next number of weeks and months. We are all agreed that the one thing we do not want to see is a repeat of what happened during previous periods of restriction easing. To ensure that, one of the key weapons we have is contact tracing. Is the Minister satisfied that enough staff are employed to deal with contact tracing? What levels does he see for the coming weeks and months? Does he anticipate an increase? Is anybody using the Covid tracker application anymore? Does it have a role to play? I do not see it being promoted through the HSE to the same level it once was.

Is the Minister satisfied about the issue around passengers arriving into this State from destinations that do not fall under the mandatory quarantine regime? I understand that out of nearly 250 flights, there was at least one case. There has been a consistent issue around the contact tracing of other passengers on those flights. Is the Minister satisfied with the system in place? Will the Minister also outline, if he has time, the situation as it now pertains to testing and tracing within the meat industry? Is he satisfied it is now at a level that can provide assurances?

Deputy Cullinane made a point about the patent waivers and the need for an international eye to all of this. There is a European citizens' initiative campaign under way across the EU. I commend my predecessor, former Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, and Sinn Féin MEP Chris MacManus on the role they have played in that regard. It would be very useful if the Irish Government endorsed that course of action at a European Commission level.

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