Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleagues in the Regional Group, especially Deputy Naughten and Cáit Nic Amhlaoibh, for the work they have done on preparing this important motion. Many individuals are contacting Deputies to express deep concern at an incredibly debilitating illness they have, one that is affecting all elements of their lives. Many people have indicated to me that it is similar to having a brain injury in terms of loss of cognition, chronic fatigue, heart palpitations and other cardiac issues. People are unable to work and go about their daily lives. Memory is severely affected. It also leads to depression as people try to deal with the illness. As the Minister of State is aware, it is estimated that up to 21,000 people in the State are currently unable to work as a result of this condition. It is having a serious effect on people's ability to survive, especially in a cost-of-living crisis.

It is important that we do two things. First, we need to investigate the level of impact this is having and how many people are experiencing this illness. We also need to immediately start to treat the people who have these conditions. That is not happening yet. Although the Government announced previously that investment would be made in certain clinics to deal with long Covid, that simply has not happened to the level required and people are not getting the treatment they need.

I draw the attention of the Minister of State to the significant mortality rates this year. August had the highest mortality rate of any month since the start of 2020. The mortality rate this year is higher than it was pre-Covid. There has been very little investigation into why that is happening.

There is a broader issue in respect of the Government's understanding of how it dealt with Covid and the outcomes of Covid on society at the moment. We in Aontú have brought forward a Bill that seeks an investigation into how the Government handled Covid. Unfortunately, the Taoiseach has refused to agree to that investigation. We know that more than half the people who died of Covid in this State did so in a nursing home or hospital setting. The Government is in charge of how those two sectors operate. That is an incredible situation. We saw people being moved from hospitals into the nursing home sector without being tested for Covid.

This affected people who were most exposed and vulnerable to this illness. We also know there are many costs to the way the Government handled Covid over this period. Indeed, this country had the longest and most severe restrictions of any country in Europe. We were the only country to close down the building industry for a full quarter, even though the State has the worst housing crisis of any country in Europe at present. Many of the contributions to the inflation rates we are experiencing now are due to some of the restrictions the Government imposed in the recent past.

As we look at all the different impacts of Covid, the Government needs to do this in a structured fashion rather than the haphazard fashion it is doing now. For example, I brought to the attention of the House just last week the fact that we have seen increases of 56% in the number of people who are being referred to rapid access cancer clinics in this State. The Taoiseach announced at a parliamentary party meeting that he was very concerned about the level of new and advanced cancer cases that are now hitting the health service. Yet, during the Covid crisis when I raised the need for cancer services to be reopened, the Taoiseach laughed at me and told me to get real. It is an incredible situation.

We need proper investigation into the level of long Covid, investment in delivering services for those suffering from it and an investigation into how the Government has handled the past two and a half years.

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