Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We put down questions to be answered and this question is very specific. It is whether the Minister plans to extend the period. I had to ask this way because I failed to get an answer up to now. I know the Minister is extremely busy but this is a very specific matter. We have seen HIQA's report and a letter to the Minister from Dr. Tony Holohan in November, and I believe there was one before that. He sets out in a paragraph that based on the advice provided from HIQA, which I have already read, the NPHET further accepted HIQA's advice and so on. The letter set out that NPHET endorsed the recommendation that the period of presumptive protective immunity following infection with Covid-19 should remain at nine months post infection at this time. Will the Minister just deal with that? I have been obliged to bring this question. I know somebody who had Covid-19, as we all may have, and the period in question is six months. NPHET has endorsed the HIQA recommendation of a nine-month period. What is the Minister telling me?

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