Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister of State knows, Drogheda is Ireland's largest town and the population of the borough itself is almost 50,000. The very immediate hinterland of the town brings the population of the area to in excess of 80,000. The Government and the HSE would not dream of leaving Waterford city or Galway city without a Covid-19 testing centre but Drogheda is left without one. It seems that nobody is accountable. As the Minister of State knows, I am from Drogheda. I live there. I love my town. I care deeply about it. I am not making a narrow, local, parochial case for Drogheda to have a permanent Covid-19 testing centre or a community vaccination centre. I am making a rational logical case based on the evidence before us and based on our experience.

The Drogheda local electoral areas and the Laytown-Bettystown local electoral area which adjoins Drogheda consistently feature at the top of the charts of the areas most adversely affected by Covid-19 but we still have no vaccination centre. There is no logic to this. This is a real problem in the area. When rates were running at 40 cases per 1,000, and now we are much higher, we had to beg the HSE nationally to provide us with a temporary testing centre in the locality just for a weekend. It made an impact. It works. The evidence is clear. The centre in Louth is in Ardee in mid-Louth. The people there do a very good job. Nobody is debating this or arguing about it. However, 21% of all households in Drogheda town alone have no car. They have no access to private transport. People with symptoms do not want to have to get on a bus or public transport to go for a test because they do not want to run the risk of infecting others. This is a laudable position to take.

Neither does Drogheda have a community vaccination centre. In May, the 50 to 60 age group in Louth were among the last in the State to be vaccinated. I had to make a series of interventions with the HSE to enable them to have the Johnson & Johnson jab administered in the Helix. This cannot be allowed to happen again. The 50 to 60 cohort in Louth and east Meath cannot be left behind. As the Minister of State knows, those over 50 are at risk. Tomorrow, the walk-in centre in Dundalk will be open but not for the 50 to 60 age group. This simply is not on. We know all about the waning efficacy of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. People can wait no longer. Those vulnerable people cannot be exposed because of the inadequate roll-out of the booster vaccine and the lack of facilities in my locality. It is not safe. It is not on. It is not acceptable. We need a vaccination centre in Drogheda, Ireland's largest town.

Those aged over 50 in Louth and east Meath were badly let down by the HSE nationally in April and May. If we are to tackle this disease properly and if we are to make people safer, testing and vaccination centres need to be provided where people live and where they are. We know the countries that perform best are those that have good testing and contact tracing systems, and have systems in place to respond to the needs in urbanised areas. We simply do not have this, as is evidenced by the fact we do not have a Covid-19 permanent testing centre in Drogheda and neither do we have a community vaccination centre in the locality. I request that the Minister of State address this with the HSE on an urgent basis.

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