Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was reminiscing there. James Joyce was rightly quoted in the current context. If Seán O’Casey had been around two years ago when Covid-19 appeared on our shores, he would have squinted out the window and said, “The blinds is down Joxer, the blinds is down.” They were, and the challenges were huge. Nobody knew what was coming around the corner. It serves us well to remember what Deputy Creed and others have said. At a time of crisis, people with nerve are needed to stand up, do what has to be done, call on those who need to be called upon,and put the right people in the right places to ensure we are on the right track. I believe that was done. We were critical at many times in this House and we made contradictory statements in which we called for more, less or maybe nothing to be done.

The people at the helm and on the front line, those who managed the pandemic and the individuals and families who paid the price all had an influence. Some paid a huge price. Some paid with their lives. One way or the other, we muddled through it. It was not really muddling because it was well-charted and we were able to do it at least as well as anybody else across the globe and better than most, even though the Government, the Minister and the system were criticised. Our self-belief returned. It was possible to identify what we could do if we made up our minds to do it. We now have to apply those principles to the delivery of health services in general. We cannot go along indefinitely complaining about the system and saying somebody should do something. We have to do it ourselves and that can be done with the right will. If the will is there, we should utilise it.

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