Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like others, I will say something that cannot be said often enough, that is, I acknowledge the efforts made by everybody in the healthcare sector. It was not just the healthcare workers. It was a general, national endeavour that got us through the pandemic. Front-line healthcare workers and staff working in local supermarkets, meat plants and dairy farms made a collective endeavour that got us through the pandemic. I acknowledge all of those people.

I confess I was, and remain, one of the sceptics with regard to the front-line bonus payment the Government has announced. I acknowledge it is now a fait accompliand good luck to those who will get it. However, I think it incredible that we might contemplate differentiating between one form of front-line worker and another in the health service just because their pay cheques come from different authorities or organisations. Those who work in section 38 or section 38 organisations did work that was as valuable in delivering front-line services to people with disabilities and healthcare needs as did those who work in the HSE. I hope that when cheques are being written we will not differentiate between them.

One of the great takeaways from this period in respect of our health service is the response; what we can do and what we did. That was probably because of the fantastic level of scrutiny and observation of that response. There was daily and weekly accountability from the Chief Medical Officer and other senior officials and that got us through the pandemic. I acknowledge all the supports around that, including the National Public Health Emergency Team, the national immunisation advisory committee and everybody else. If we can do it for Covid-19, we can do it for cataracts, orthopaedics, waiting lists, disability services and mental health services. If there is one takeaway in particular, it is that we should bring forward that level of scrutiny, oversight and accountability, which is the thing we are lacking most in the health service. People can suggest their own explanations for what happened in the child and adolescent mental health service in Kerry but these are not isolated cases. When we bring a forensic accountability and shine a spotlight on the service, we can do it. I do not think people would shy away from committing more funds to the health service if they were satisfied they would be well spent and accounted for. The pandemic showed we can do that.

I will move on to consider mask-wearing and visits to public hospitals. It seems to the layperson rather illogical that we can have this level of opening up now because risk is so minimal and yet those who have been least at risk, that is, healthy young children, are still the subject of compulsory mask-wearing in certain circumstances. I am not a public health expert and I defer all the time in this debate to those who are but I think we need to review that as early as possible.

There was a case in my own constituency this morning of a person who was distressed because they were unable to visit their wife in hospital. Obviously, the risks still continue and we are not over Covid but we could allow visits. If we are doing it in nursing homes, we could do it in general hospital settings.

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