Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is very good to see that we now have momentum on the vaccine. I am especially pleased that our vaccine centre is open in County Longford. I thank the Minister for his commitment to opening the centre. From the very outset he was committed to a centre in Longford and it is good to see that it is now open. I thank the staff at the centre, in particular the centre manager, Carmel Breaden, and I wish them the best of luck in their endeavours. They have worked tirelessly to have the centre up and ready and open for vaccinations. I must also acknowledge the local GAA club, Clanguish, and Longford County Council, which have worked very closely with the HSE in this regard.

The public has reacted very favourably to our reopening plan. As a nation and a people we want to return to normality. There are some inconsistencies in the plan, which could be addressed in the interests of public goodwill and as a gesture of solidarity with small businesses and communities. Many small gyms will not be in a position to reopen outdoor activity on 10 May while peer facilities will. Gyms are scheduled to reopen on 7 June but it is not inconceivable that these facilities should be able to resume their indoor activities in line with non-essential retail on 17 May. They have proven themselves very adept at managing their facilities and adhering to all public health guidelines. Any analysis of case figures will validate this.

Stage and dance schools and local theatres have been challenged on all sides by Covid. In most cases, they were unable to access any State support. They now find themselves struggling to adapt to outdoor activities owing to inclement weather. It is the only outlet at this time for many young people and it is critical that we see them return as people are missing out on a crucial developmental year. On reopening last year, the sector proved itself more than willing and capable in terms of complying with public health guidelines.

I would ask that they could also reopen on 17 May in line with non-essential retail.

In particular, I welcome the Minister's commitment this week to trial outdoor events with spectators for the month of June. An obvious one must surely be the park runs which take place the length and breadth of Ireland. The park run movement will return for adults in the UK on 5 June and there is a compelling case that we should be able to follow soon after here in Ireland. Even before Covid, this was one of the best policed and managed public events in the country with all participants tagged for the purpose of timing, and full contact details already to hand to aid track and tracing. I would ask the Irish park run movement to engage with the Department of the Taoiseach and the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Martin, in the hope that this could be one of the flagship events for the month of June.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan's overview of the Covid challenges in the Traveller community. There were 16 new Covid outbreaks and 65 new cases of the disease in the Traveller community notified to the HSE in the past week. These new cases bring to more than 3,600 the number of confirmed cases of the disease in the 35,000 strong Traveller community reported in this third wave of the disease which began just before Christmas. According to the statistics, 155 members of the Travelling community have been hospitalised with the disease since the third wave, 22 have required critical care and, sadly, eight have died.

We had a very public event in Longford town yesterday and, understandably, it has given cause for much concern locally. It was an event that ran contrary to the compliance and significant community commitment which has helped us as a community and as a county come to terms with the public health challenge in recent weeks. Some weeks ago, the Traveller health movement and the HSE convened a very successful pop-up test centre in Longford town. At the time, our statistics were among the worst in the country. Yesterday, for the first time in almost two months our national average over 14 days was back below the national average. However, there are concerns we may see a spike again in Longford over the coming days. With this in mind, I ask the Minister to request the HSE to convene a mobile pop-up test centre for Longford town for the next couple of weeks and until such time as we are sure that any risk arising from this week's events has abated.

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