Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We will support the legislation, but we will also support our own amendment and a number of other amendments that have been tabled by Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats. Mandatory hotel quarantine is a tool in our response to Covid-19. We want as many arrows in our quiver on this. However, given the experience we had with mandatory hotel quarantine, and more importantly, given where we are with the virus now, I have significant concerns about it being applied in the current circumstances. The virus is running rampant in every community around the country at the moment. If we have not had the virus, we all know many people who have had it or have it. There is no feeling that there is a national suppression strategy that is working. Our testing regime is under stress. Our vaccine roll-out is not operating as strongly as it was in the summer. We are playing catch-up with the booster campaign. People are still circulating and living their lives in a way that is bringing them into contact with each other and that is spreading the virus. That is the reality; that is a fact.

We have seen reports that since it was announced that people should work from home a few weeks ago, there has only been a 1% decrease in traffic at key points. That is just one indicator, but we could all take an agricultural estimate that things have not actually changed that much in terms of activity over the past number of weeks. The measures that have been brought in do not seem to be having the desired impact in bringing case numbers down. When I talk about case numbers, I am not just talking about cases; I am talking about hospitalisations and ICU numbers. We have plateaued at an incredibly high level. Any unexpected deviation in the virus will have an impact and could collapse our health service. The service is already under a type of pressure that is unimaginable for anyone who is not working in it or is not a patient. A few weeks ago, the health service was the centre of our discussion in the Dáil. Last week, the discussion was about PCR testing; this week, is it about antigen testing and mandatory hotel quarantine. In the intervening couple of weeks, our health service has not improved. The pressure on staff and front-line workers has not lessened; it has worsened, if that is even imaginable.

We are going to need to start making some very hard choices. Mandatory hotel quarantine may be one of them, but many others will have to be made along the way. With schools, for example, the fact is that kids are wearing masks, coats and scarves, with windows open in classrooms, yet we do not have an investment strategy for HEPA filtration. HEPA filtration is not going to solve everything in and of itself, but it is proven that it improves airflow and reduces the ability of the virus to spread in enclosed spaces. HEPA filters have worked on aeroplanes, where they have been used for many years. There is no more enclosed environment than an aeroplane. We need to be looking at this before we begin to implement mandatory hotel quarantine.

There were extreme views on mandatory hotel quarantine. People either think it was the best thing in the world and worked or that it was an absolute disaster. It was neither. It did have an impact and caught some cases. There is not doubt about that. I have big concerns about how it was applied. Perhaps the other Opposition Members present recall getting calls almost every weekend from a couple of media outlets for comment on the latest state that had been added to the mandatory hotel quarantine list. It was almost always a state from the global south. It was never a state in Europe, and it certainly was not the UK. I remember the week of so-called freedom day in the UK, when it was opening up and there were D-Day-like celebrations. The UK's virus numbers remain off the charts. We added Cuba to the list that week. The other states that were on the list that week included Burundi, Cape Verde, Eritrea, Ethiopia, French Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, the Maldives, Oman, Sudan and Tanzania. We could see a pattern emerging. Any time we would ask for details on why a particular state had been added to the list, we were never given the answers.

Last week, the Omicron variant emerged and was sequenced in South Africa. Straightway, the punishment and the restrictions were applied to that region, even though Omicron is everywhere. It is here, it is in the US, the UK, Europe, Asia and Israel; it is everywhere. Hopefully, we do not need to bring in measures such as mandatory hotel quarantine again. Hopefully, we can use our powers within this House and our own domestic powers to suppress this virus. There are many more things that we can do. However, as a very privileged, rich country, when we bring in a mandatory hotel quarantine strategy and apply it in such a manner that seems to be directed towards the global south and poorer nations, that reflects badly on us. It is a shame. When we tie that in with what is going on with the TRIPS waiver and the work and advocacy that we need to do, it reflects poorly on us. We pride ourselves, as a State, on advocating for states that are oppressed, and on our charity and helping those in need. There is no greater need, at the moment, than the TRIPS waiver. Instead of actively imposing travel restrictions, we should do more to get vaccines into the arms of those who need them all over the world. Until that happens, none of us will be safe and no country will be safe. We are never going to be able to hermetically seal our State, or indeed, any state. With a virus as airborne and transmissible as Covid-19, we need to get real and to approach things slightly differently.

I understand that the legislation is being introduced to put the framework in place, as we put the framework in place for other restrictions. However, this cannot be used as a distracting measure. It does suck up a lot of media and political attention. If it is implemented, while it will have some utility, it will not have as much utility as a PCR testing system that is firing on all cylinders and does not have two-day waiting times.

We are going to have to start making very hard choices, and mandatory hotel quarantine may be one of them. Many other hard choices are going to have to be made along the way. With schools, for example, we have kids with masks on, coats and scarves on, with windows open in classrooms, but we do not have an investment strategy for HEPA filtration system

It does not have as much of an impact as a properly rolled out and subsidised antigen testing regime that is being used effectively in environments where it should be used.

Regarding antigen tests, last week I asked the Taoiseach whether he saw a role for them being used regularly in households in 2022. I did not refer to serial, but rather regular, use. He said he believed there was a role for them. The Minister said earlier this week that he had dropped the Government plan to subsidise tests. That is a mistake and I would like him to revisit that because the costs of tests are still high for a household of two or more people if they are doing serial or regular testing.

Antigen testing has worked very well throughout this year in areas such as construction on big building sites where, twice a week, workers have to take an antigen test. Case numbers were low and if anyone was found to have Covid, it would not impact the work of a site or the ongoing operation of a project. The person concerned would isolate and then return to work when he or she was well. Given the numbers and the rate of community and household transmission, we will need to do that in households.

If we are to catch the virus early, we need a proper education campaign on antigen testing. We need to stop using language describing them as a snake oil product or a silver bullet. They are certainly neither of those, but there is a role in the middle if we have proper consistent communication, education and, most importantly, affordability and access. For people on low pay or in receipt of social welfare, even at the lowest price of €2.99 per test for a family of two, three or four, it is still a massive imposition on a weekly household budget. There are no two ways about it; it is the role of the State to tackle that. It is as simple as that. The market is not going to meet the public health need for antigen testing.

I mentioned HEPA filters in schools. The Opposition has put forward proposals for filters earnestly and in good faith. If they were used, we would have some faith that everything necessary was being done.

We have to get back to what we were talking about a couple of weeks ago in a more focused manner, namely, our health service, front-line workers and ICU and hospitalisation capacity. We are plateauing at too high a level in terms of hospitalisations. That is impacting on non-Covid care. Too many operations and procedures are being cancelled, and that is having a cumulative effect. Waiting lists in this country have always been at crisis level, but they are now almost beyond that. We can barely comprehend how long the waiting lists are because of the impact of this virus. We cannot continue to operate as if this is the new normal. We need to start making hard decisions. Whether it is Omicron or something else, there will be another unexpected turn with this virus because this is not going to be the last wave. We have to start listening to the WHO. It has said the virus will be with us until at least 2023, so we have to plan accordingly. The message I want to get across is that we need longer term investment.

This is not easy. We are doing 220,000 PCR tests a week, which is a huge number. However, it is not enough and we need to do more. We need to get antigen testing and the booster programme working. I know things are ramping up and drop-in clinics have opened. We saw long queues of traffic because there is a real desire for people to get the booster vaccine. People are as scared of this virus now as they were in February, March and April 2020.

Despite the figures being put forward by the Minister and the Government, our booster campaign is behind and the virus is still too far ahead of us. If we need to redeploy staff and resources in the short term this side of Christmas to enable us to redouble our efforts and go beyond what we did during the summer for the regular vaccine roll-out, that should be done. We need to have confidence that the vaccine programme is working.

The Labour Party has tabled an amendment on mandatory hotel quarantine which I will mention, even though we are on Second Stage. The Bill is being guillotined and we do not know what way the debate will go later today. In case we do not get to our amendment, I want to put it on record. The Minister may come back to it in his reply to Second Stage or we may get to it this evening. People ordinarily resident in the State who are returning, having travelled to another state for an unavoidable, imperative and time-sensitive medical reason or a termination of pregnancy where the reason is certified by a person who is a registered medical practitioner or person holding an equivalent qualification outside of the State, need to be dealt with in the Bill. We cannot have any ambiguity there.

Through advocacy groups and people who have contacted us, we know that women have been turned away at airports because of this. If people are travelling at this time, it is usually because they are later on in pregnancy and have been given tragic emergency news. People are travelling at very short notice. To impose added PCR testing, mandatory hotel quarantine or other measures on top of the traumatic experiences women have to go through is immoral and unjustified. I want to put that on the record, but I hope to come back to it on Committee Stage. I hope we reach the amendment and the Opposition has an opportunity to examine the issue. It is to be hoped it will support the amendment.

I will leave it there for the time being. I look forward to what I hope will be a more robust debate this evening. I am disappointed that it is being truncated into one day. In my relatively short period in the Dáil, taking all Stages in one day has never worked. I hope we have a better quality of debate which, ultimately, has to be led by the Minister in terms of making sure we get through amendments. I know the Opposition will play its part.

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