Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the opportunity to contribute. As we all know, we had our first official case of Covid-19 in Ireland in February 2020, almost 22 months ago. It is fair to say that, since that date, we in this country and everyone throughout the world have endured a very difficult period. So many people have suffered and continue to suffer. The many thousands of people who have contracted Covid-19 and are still feeling the effects of long Covid continue to struggle with their day-to-day lives.

In the past, I have supported the efforts of the Government in tackling this crisis. Unlike others, there is no point in trying to make political gain from this situation, but the simple truth is that people have grown very weary and tired. The public messaging, especially in the past number of weeks, is very confusing and is adding to the frustration of people and the business community. The Omicron variant is the latest battle in this war against Covid. It remains to be seen how this will to affect us all moving forward. On the one hand, we have advice stating that this will be the worst variant to date, while other advice states that it is much milder than previous variants. All this advice is coming from what is termed "expert opinion". I can understand why the public has grown tired and weary at this stage.

I call on the Government to make its messaging much clearer. Surely, it is not hard to outline a plan, including what parameters are being used and what actions we need to take, to ensure that society remains open. The business community is screaming out for this. At this point in time, the hospitality sector is unaware whether it will be open during the festive season. It is now 16 December and a whole sector is still in limbo. I understand that we are dealing with unknowns, but we need a rock-solid plan to get out of this situation. It is clear from previous occasions that simply locking down society is not the answer. All it does is put the brakes on this virus for a period. Once society opens up again, the virus again takes hold.

What most people cannot understand is that we have all been told that vaccinations will get us out of this situation. We have one of the highest vaccination rates in Europe, yet we are still in a very difficult situation. Are we any better off than this time last year? Moving forward, my big fear is that we are facing a crisis in another area, namely, cancer. I am concerned about it because it is very important that cancer is detected at an early stage. I hope that I am wrong on this occasion, but I fear we are heading towards a real crisis with this issue. How many people have missed vital appointments, scans and check-ups as a result of Covid? How will this affect them in the future? The waiting lists are off the charts now. Who will get on top of this plan? People are very worried and concerned.

I spoke earlier the week in a debate on private health insurance and the fact that we need private hospitals to tackle the backlog and the waiting lists. Why is this not being openly discussed? During that debate, we discussed giving private health insurers additional scope for profit margins. We should be discussing how they can help the system reduce waiting lists. Some 46% of the population have health cover but what about the other 54% that do not?

My biggest disappointment during this crisis is the fact that, despite the additional millions of euro being invested in the health system, very few additional ICU beds were put into operation. We were all told that the main reason for the lockdown measures was to reduce the pressure on the health services, especially ICUs. It would be interesting to know how many additional and fully functioning ICU beds were created from the millions of euro in additional funding that was pumped into the health system.

It is only right and proper that we acknowledge the great work being carried out by school principals, teaching staff, SNAs and all other staff in keeping schools fully functioning. The school system has performed brilliantly and continues to do so, but having spoken to several school principals there is a sense that more could be done. At times, school principals feel that they are not getting the most up-to-date support or that messages are mixed.

One area that needs to be addressed is the use of HEPA filters in classrooms. They are used successfully in many other countries throughout Europe. We unfortunately have a situation in many schools where windows are being kept open resulting in freezing cold temperatures in the classroom. Children are trying to do schoolwork in freezing conditions and with their coats on. This is not the environment we want our children taught in. What is the policy on HEPA filters? Why are they not pushed more in this country as they are in other European countries? Again, this is another area where public health and Government advice is not clear. Surely, if filters can be used to monitor a classroom and allow windows to be kept closed in the depths of winter, then they should be deployed. Why are they not being deployed?

I will once more reiterate the point that I will support the Government in these measures. It is very important that it tackles the virus, that clear measures are taken and that people know what is happening. I will not support continuous lockdowns because they have not worked in the past and will not work in the future. We need a plan to live with this situation. Society cannot be continually locked down. This is the equivalent of putting a small plaster on a gaping wound. It simply does not work.

I urge the Government to look again at the effectiveness of HEPA filters in schools and why they are not being actively used. The bottom line is that we need a plan that will work long term and not just as a stopgap. It is very important that we look after the health of our citizens and the education of our children. A lot more can be done that we are just not doing. Why are we not using the private hospitals that we spent millions of euro on during the past 22 months to help cancer patients and others? There was talk that the Government was thinking about buying some of these hospitals. People will respect the Government if it makes a decision. Ireland is known to be a very intelligent country. Maybe it is time we got some external people in to give a little advice, such as real businessmen and entrepreneurs. They seem to be travelling around the world getting massive money for public speaking in other countries. Why can we not ask them to give us the help in Ireland?

We all had our ups and downs over the past 12 months, but the Ceann Comhairle is always fair and I appreciate his guidance. In fairness, he kept the House going during 2021. I wish him, his staff, all my colleagues in Leinster House and everybody else a happy Christmas and a happy new year.

The people of Ireland have sacrificed a lot over the past 22 months. A clap on the back is not good enough. As a father and grandfather, I would like to know that when my grandchildren go to school on a Monday morning they are protected. The amount of we borrowed and have invested is not in the thousands, hundreds or millions but billions of euro. Have we moved any further in the past 22 months? It can be very frustrating and annoying. As I said in the Chamber two weeks ago, I am very annoyed that I can walk down a street in Dundalk or Drogheda and everybody seems to ask me what is going on. Nobody seems to know what is going on. I ask the Minister of State to be open and upfront. The Irish people can take it on the chin. I ask her to try to be honest and let us try to get the work done. As I said, I have supported this Government since the coalition came into office nearly two years ago and will continue to do so. It is a tough job, but we just need to make the right decisions and protect the citizens of Ireland.

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