Dáil debates

Wednesday, 16 June 2021

Ceisteanna - Questions

Cabinet Committees

1:32 pm

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

The Taoiseach stated that he had not taken gambles in terms of Covid. That is not historically accurate. I hope that we will have a public inquiry into the management of Covid and it will be for that inquiry to judge, but the Taoiseach also said something that is for us to discuss today, that no gamble is being taken at the moment.

There is a gamble or, to use a different word, a choice involved. The Taoiseach clearly accepts that there is a problem with the threat of the Delta variant becoming dominant here, that our quarantine regime, for those coming from England, Scotland and Wales, has been inadequate and that the Government is, therefore, changing the nature of that regime. The problem I see is how the nature of the regime is being changed. What is being altered is the length of quarantine, from five days to ten. at home. It seems that there is strong evidence to suggest that the main problem is not with the length of time but with the fact that it is at-home quarantine. What percentage of those who are supposed to be quarantining at home have got PCR tests after five days? That would be an interesting statistic to know. The main point is that there are flaws in the at-home quarantine model. There are many people who do not have a home in which they can self-isolate and quarantine safely. This is because they share a home and so on. Many others cannot do it without the kind of supports that come with a proper mandatory hotel quarantine regime. The Government is making a choice. It is taking a gamble by not opting for mandatory hotel quarantine, which would surely be more effective at slowing down the spread of the Delta variant.

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