Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

To say I am disappointed that the Taoiseach would say today that there was no time for pre-legislative scrutiny would be an understatement. Every Deputy who has spoken has expressed the same view.

I will only go through one or two points because other Deputies wish to speak. At no time have I ever not taken public health advice, but I have given advice to people who had concerns about being vaccinated. I have always told them that, if they have concerns, they should seek medical advice from their doctors. At no time have I discriminated against anyone who has, or has not, been vaccinated. As the Minister mentioned, the best advice we can give is that people should get medical advice.

I have a concern about the booster jabs. As the Taoiseach stated, 50% of people have not turned up for their booster appointments. Does the Minister know that, when NPHET went on its run, people were being told that the over-70s cohort was receiving boosters even before the Government was told? They were then told that boosters were being given to the 60- to 70-year-old cohort. Now they are being told that, because so many people did not turn up, the 50- to 60-year-old cohort is being given boosters. A number of people in the 60- to 70-year-old cohort have called my office to say that, worried they had been missed, they had contacted their GPs and got the booster weeks ago, yet they still have not got a message from the HSE to say that they are due a booster. Doctors are contacting the people on their books who are in those age groups and asking them to come in for their boosters because they have not been called by the HSE but there is no portal for doctors to tell the HSE who has got the booster. The HSE does not know who has been given the booster because the system is wrong. When people received texts calling them for their boosters, there was no way for them to say whether they had already received theirs. The data that the HSE has are not accurate because it does not have the information from the GPs.

NPHET damaged the hospitality sector by leaking health advice before discussing it with the Government. NPHET came out a week before the Government to say on national television what would happen. This caused cancellations across the country and reduced the hospitality sector's business by 50% before the Government even announced the restrictions. NPHET has run wild and the Government allowed it to do so from the very start. As such, the Government is the cause of the hospitality sector and other sectors being penalised by NPHET coming out with statements without Government approval. NPHET has cost this country millions of euro but the Government has not sanctioned it for that. The Government has let NPHET run this country.

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