Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Connolly is entitled to ask questions. That is why we are here tonight. It is important that we have that capability and also that we try to achieve common purpose as we address what is still a critical situation. For those patients in Galway, and for that reason, we have to be careful here in what we say.

Various Members, including Deputy O'Donnell, have said they were not able to get as much information as they wanted from the earlier committee meeting. This is because we have to be careful as this is an ongoing incident in which significant twists and turns may arise as it evolves. We are only in the early phases of this. The first phase involves identifying and containing the problem. We will then seek to remedy it. Providing that remedy will take a significant amount of time. There may be real consequences, particularly for those in the health service.

The various people involved in this were mentioned. Those working on the IT system within the healthcare sector are particularly worthy of mention. The truth is that, during the Covid pandemic of the last year, they have been under incredible strain. They have had to react to a whole series of different and changing circumstances. They have been required to create what are effectively entirely new systems. They created an entire new system for contact tracing and for rolling out the vaccine, a system which luckily has not been affected in this instance because of the way in which this separate network was created. They are the people most affected immediately with regard to the ongoing strain they have faced in their work over the last year. I commend them and wish them well. The rest of us are, in effect, there to provide support. It is they who are the front-line key workers at this moment in time.

We are in very difficult circumstances. As Deputy Stephen Donnelly has said, this is going to take a number of weeks to resolve. In those circumstances and with that sort of timeline, which is unfortunately inevitable because of the scale of the damage that has been done, our key concern is for the patients whose care may be affected. I have absolute confidence that the Irish health system, which has shown great resilience in adapting during the Covid pandemic, will show similar resilience in providing care in whatever way is possible with the limited systems we have in place.

I listened with great attention to what various Deputies said with regard to the need for the capacity review to be published. We will do that, subject to advice. In a world in which there are criminal elements who would look to exploit information which might identify some of our capabilities or lack thereof, we have to be careful, but we will publish that review insofar as is possible. I hope that will give people real confidence and back up what I see as the reality. We have been in a maelstrom for the last four or five days but, from working with officials, I can say that I have been highly impressed with the service they provide to the public, their sense of dedication, their real capability and their calmness under very difficult circumstances.

I appreciate this chance. We had the opportunity today to share, as best we could, some of the information we have. As Deputy Smyth said in response to an earlier request for further briefings to be provided to Oireachtas Members from the various different groups, we will absolutely look to make that happen in a way that ensures confidence and security while providing information to Members of the Oireachtas.

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