Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have been studying health for many years. It is the reason I got into politics. I do not think we realise what we are facing into over the coming months. I am not saying this in any political way but genuinely. I have never seen so many people, and I have family members who work in the healthcare area, who are so exhausted. They are facing into a perfect storm because of where we are with Covid. We do not know where we are fully going there. This winter will not be like last winter because we will have other issues such as the flu. It is a perfect storm. This year they are absolutely exhausted - completely exhausted. Last year we rallied but this year I am not sure whether rallying will be enough.

The trolley watch figures given out by the INMO are so disturbing. University Hospital Limerick, UHL, is my nearest category 1 hospital and I have never seen the figures like these, with 75 people on trolleys. I have never heard the kind of stories I am hearing from University Hospital Kerry, and I know many people working in both hospitals.

Where is the winter plan? It was released last year in September; it is now November. The Tánaiste will obviously have a date for it in return to my question. We also know that the efficacy of the of Covid-19 vaccines is dropping and all international studies are showing that.

What are we doing on clean air quality? Ventilation is probably the issue that has been most underassessed and utilised as regards combating Covid-19 because it is an airborne disease. Do we have a regulatory proposal for the winter months regarding ventilation and clean air across all workplaces as people come back to work?

I welcome that the National Immunisation Advisory Council, NIAC, which did not meet for more than two weeks, incredibly, is finally allowing for booster shots for the 340,000 healthcare workers. I presume it will be all health care workers, It will be done in about three weeks because we have the infrastructure in place. That was good planning.

There are, however, a number of other issues we need to deal with on top of that. I have said for a month now we need serial testing in nursing homes. There have been 12 outbreaks in the last week. We need to just learn from the past and not blame anyone. For a period over the winter months we need serial testing in nursing homes to protect our most vulnerable there.

I agree with the previous speaker on student nurses. This report should be with the student nursing unions before it is leaked to the media once again. It is scandalous that happened. There should be proper interaction so what is being proposed can be negotiated with them and can be told to their faces.

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