Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like written answers from the Minister. Why are the HSE and the Department of Health not collating figures on the numbers of people with delayed diagnoses of cancer or misdiagnoses? There are 38,000 people waiting for colonoscopies alone and many of their diagnoses have been delayed.

Student nurses were forced to take the AstraZeneca vaccine. The Taoiseach told the Dáil they had to take it or they would forfeit their careers. Now we know it is not suitable for under-60s. What redress is there for those student nurses and young people? It is shocking.

There is a cohort of teachers from Ireland working in the United Arab Emirates, UAE, who have been vaccinated. The summer holidays are coming up and they dearly want to come home. Many of them have children who want to see their grandparents. However, their vaccinations are not EU approved. Will they be forced to quarantine or can we get some forbearance for those people who have been vaccinated?

I return to the issue of St. Brigid's Hospital in Carrick-on-Suir. I want to know why it was closed in the middle of a pandemic. Why did the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, the Minister for Health and the Taoiseach refuse to meet with Councillors Kieran Bourke and David Dunne and the action committee of doctors and nurses? They point-blank refused to meet them. Why? How was the hospital deemed suitable for treating Covid patients when it is now deemed unsuitable for treating patients who are convalescing? Why is that? It was deemed suitable for Covid patients last March. Why did HIQA deem it suitable for step-down patients during the Covid pandemic and then decide it was no longer suitable in November? We need answers to those questions. I represent the people and am entitled to answers. I have not got one answer in writing from the Minister since he took up office. I expect to get them. I do not think paper is that scarce that he cannot give me a written answer. It is outrageous that the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, turned her back on her own community and her own colleagues, including Councillors Burke and Dunne and others. To turn her back on her own community as regards that hospital is shocking.

See this speech in context