Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister's statements, the Government's work and the HSE's work to provide vaccines and to reach out to people to ensure that the most vulnerable in society are dealt with fairly. I welcome the comments made today. I get a sense that all of us are working together to achieve the best for everybody.

I raise the issue of people aged between 60 and 69. It is clear, as the Minister knows, from Dr. Holohan's letter, that about 75% of this group had received just one dose. Much work is left to be done. There is clear evidence now that while getting two AstraZeneca doses is very effective, it is not as effective as two doses of Pfizer. There is evidence from the Com-CoV study, which is led by the University of Oxford, that one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, followed by a dose of the Pfizer vaccine, gives the best immunity to people in this age cohort. There is evidence that people are concerned about that. Some commentators on the media are clear on this. If the Minister has the medical advice to do so, could there be substitution of the Pfizer vaccine for the second AstraZeneca vaccine dose for that age group, which is most at risk?

The other question that arises in the United Kingdom is that the National Health Service is looking at a booster vaccine for the vulnerable population in the autumn. I appreciate that this is not a question the Minister can answer here. I ask him to correspond with me on that issue. Does the Government intend to provide booster vaccines this autumn, especially for vulnerable age groups and vulnerable people? We are learning as we go. The best evidence is what we have always acted on. I support all of the actions the Government has taken on this matter heretofore.

I refer to "Prime Time" on television last night. I ask the Minister about the appalling number of deaths in Dealgan House Nursing Home and the need for a public inquiry into those deaths. I have been made aware, as the Minister has, of the appalling situation that arose in Kilbrew nursing home and the deaths there. Last night, three more nursing homes were added to that list, the Ballynoe nursing home, Cahercalla nursing home and Tara Winthrop Private Clinic. The families affected suffered grievously as a result of care not being provided and they are concerned. The Irish Examinertoday refers to one patient, who died later, saying that he was not in a nursing home but on death row, because there were so many dead bodies being wheeled past the door of his room. There is clear evidence that in one of these homes, no nurse was on duty for a 12-hour shift in one part of the home. That is entirely unacceptable. There is mounting and conclusive evidence of the need for an inquiry.

I refer to the Tara Winthrop nursing home. I wrote to the HSE last year to list the 20 nursing homes in Ireland where most people had died from Covid. One of those nursing homes was Tara Winthrop Private Clinic. I have some information on minutes of meetings between public health officials, the area crisis management teams and records of meetings between nursing home proprietors. I was refused the information I was looking for about Tara Winthrop Private Clinic in Swords on the grounds that it would prejudice the effectiveness of investigations, inquiries or audits into that home. That information was given last March. I ask the Minister to publish the information about those investigations, inquiries and audits into Tara Winthrop Private Clinic. There is clear, abiding and serious concern about it. I do not doubt the Minister's integrity or that of the Department. I do not doubt that there are fantastic, well-run, brilliant nursing homes in the country, but a core number continue to raise serious concern.

I have evidence about Dealgan House Nursing Home in Dundalk. Two witnesses told me that they are prepared to give serious evidence to an appropriate and proper inquiry. The families were in touch with me again today and will publish a letter for the Minister shortly. The Minister needs to grab this in both hands, have those inquiries, and meet the needs of the families, especially those who spoke last night and those I listed. Dealgan House Nursing Home cries out. It is the only nursing home in which the State intervened to take over management.

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