Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

Did the Taoiseach discuss the Delta variant with the Prime Minister?

Despite the vaccination programme in the UK being well advanced, the spread of this variant has forced the Government there to delay the reopening. When I raised this issue in the House three weeks ago, we had 70 cases of the Delta variant here and now we have 130-plus cases. There is a real danger of it getting out of control. The variant presents a real danger to people's health, to their lives and to our ability to reopen society, provided it manages to beat us as we race to get people fully vaccinated. This is because it is 50% more transmissible and because one dose of the either the AstraZeneca or the Pfizer vaccine is not very effective against the Delta variant.

We need to take action now before it is too late, before the spread of this variant means that we cannot reopen and before it impacts on people's health and lives. The question is whether the Taoiseach accepts that what he is talking about with respect to extending at-home quarantine does not cut it. Many people cannot quarantine at home. There is also no supervisory mechanism. Will he move to introduce mandatory hotel quarantine for a period of a couple of months to allow us to stay ahead of the Delta variant? Will he act to reduce the time between doses for people in the older and more vulnerable categories so they are not vulnerable to this variant?

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