Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I understand but I may not get an opportunity and I am being very brief. These are noteworthy points which my constituents have asked me to raise. I will be as brief as I possibly can be.

The overarching point I will make is that life can and should go on. We cannot stop everything, we cannot down tools and we cannot do this to people. There is heightened anxiety among children. Deputy Naughten referred to the point about the Ombudsman for Children asking for a review of mask wearing every two weeks, which I support. There are deaf children who are in a great deal of distress because they are being forced to wear a mask.

That comes back again to my original point about an impact analysis. If we could not do the pre-legislative scrutiny, why not have an assessment or an impact analysis to consider the ramifications, in particular the legal ramifications, of what has been imposed on people? I believe this will give rise to many legal challenges. People are already distressed. Children are suffering from very high levels of anxiety. Mental health services are in disarray. In my constituency, I am aware that mental health services in Birr, County Offaly, have not resumed since Covid-19 began. Unfortunately, mental health issues, along with other issues, do not go away because we have a pandemic.

We need to be sensible. We need to make sure that we are aware of and dealing with all of the other medical issues out there. Why was the number of ICU beds not increased? Why were hospital staff numbers not increased dramatically? It seems unfair and unjustified the way the Government has gone about this. It is very rushed. It would make more sense and serve the Government better to take the time to consider the serious impact it is having on people. My fear is that more lives will be lost, not because of the pandemic, but because of the Government's inaction on hospital waiting lists and the time that is being lost. I am aware of babies being presented and of phone calls being made to GPs. The parents of these babies are being told to get the Covid test first. If that was meningitis, the time lost could be very serious and could lead to a loss of life. I am concerned and I believe these points need to be raised. That is why I make no apology for raising them. I believe common sense needs to prevail and we need to be fair to people.

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