Results 11,981-12,000 of 46,522 for speaker:Simon Harris

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: While we might not agree on everything, Deputy Kenny's sincerity and work rate on this is something I fully respect. He did a massive amount of work on this in the last Dáil and I know he will continue that in this Dáil. 4 o’clock While I might not have gone as far as he would like, the Deputy certainly helped change and influence my position by introducing me to a...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: This is a very timely question because only today I received correspondence from the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety about this matter and I also had calls with six or seven separate European health ministers yesterday on it. We are spending an awful lot of time at a European level, at health ministers' Councils and the like, trying to take a joint European approach to this....

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: The reason the Deputy is not quite sure is that I asked my Department only this morning to seek an update from the HSE on the matter. It is my sense that it is being used but I want to get that confirmed by the HSE today. This is something the NHS has started using literally from today and I expect to be in a position to update the Deputy on it by tomorrow. My view on the vaccine is one...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: First, I acknowledge Deputy Shortall's work on Sláintecare. I do not say this for any reason other than sincerity, but if I had put money on who would have been Minister for Health after the general election, I would have had her in contention and I am disappointed that we never had the opportunity to engage fully on the importance of Sláintecare. I welcome the fact that there is...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: The Deputy has no vested interest in the question because he is clearly pure on the matter. I take his point. This is a serious business issue for so many people whose doors have been shut for a lengthy time now. Businesses want to know when they can take staff back on their books. I made the point in this House last week that this is an issue of people's mental health and well-being as...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: We helpfully published the methodology behind the model in great detail in recent weeks, which I know people in this House had been requesting. Learned minds can give consideration to that. As I have previously said, and more importantly the Chief Medical Officer has said, there is not any one marker. I have heard an occasional criticism of NPHET in this House. For what it is worth, my...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I will have to revert to my colleague, the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, to get the Deputy an accurate answer on that matter. There is a broader issue around sick pay schemes and so on that operate in some workplaces but that is perhaps for another day's debate. I will revert to the Deputy on the matter tomorrow.

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for his kind words. I also thank him for his role. One of the reasons we have been able to bring people with us, apart from the brilliance of the Irish people and their own determination, is because no party has played party politics with this issue. I have sat in meetings with Deputy Howlin, Deputy Shortall and many other Deputies here since the start of this crisis,...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I share the Deputy's view that it is very heartwarming to see nursing homes able to begin to open to visitors again. I would make the point, which I am sure he will agree with, that they need to do so in a cautious manner and that nobody here is putting pressure on a nursing home to open until its management believes it safe to do so. A nursing home's first duty of care is to the residents...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: The other day I saw a picture of myself on social media that was taken on my first day as Minister for Health. I must say that I got kind of a fright when I saw myself in the mirror shortly thereafter. In the context of the antibody testing, it commenced on 15 June, from which date a total of 5,200 letters will ultimately be posted to a random sample of individuals aged between 12 and...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: The more progress we make in suppressing the virus, the more we can begin to open up services. The two biggest risks in terms of its re-emergence or a second wave are, first, the risk of complacency and that we all get fatigued by the public health measures, which is understandable but cannot happen, and, second, the risk of imported cases. We all remember back at the start of the pandemic...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Ossian Smyth for raising this issue not just today but on a regular basis. The short answer to his question is "Yes", testing has started. My understanding is that beta testing of the early release of the software is seeking feedback aimed at improving its quality before it is released. The application has been deployed as part of a field trial within An Garda...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: My final week has been predicted so many times - sometimes, Sinn Féin has tried to bring it about earlier than I would have wished - so who knows? Regarding the important matter that Deputy Carthy raised, I could hear the frustration in his voice, which I can only imagine is amplified among all of the parents and everyone else in Carrickmacross. I will accept the Deputy's challenge...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I do not want Deputy Quinlivan to believe that I can be held accountable for a draft programme for Government, but I take the serious point that he makes about supporting drug and alcohol forums. We need to see increases in their funding in future budgets. That will be a matter for a new Government and this Oireachtas. I share the Deputy's view of the incredible work being done by staff...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: 3 o’clock There is quite a bit to cover in quite a short space of time. Deputy Murnane O'Connor asked about dentists. As she said, the guidance for dentists was issued from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre on 15 May. Professor Martin Cormican and his team did some very good work which outlined how the profession can resume the provision of routine care. The work...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: First, I am happy to wish Deputy O'Reilly's husband the very best. There are not many people in Sinn Féin that I can say I have campaigned with, but I remember being at a campaign event for Together for Yes with her husband. I am glad to hear he is doing well and has had a good experience. The reason Deputy O'Reilly highlighted that point was screening. We will be led by the...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for his questions. I will come back to him directly on his question about St. Patrick's Hospital, a site which I remember visiting with him quite a period of time ago. My commitment and that of the Department of Health and HSE to continuing the outlined capital development projects for that hospital, the 50-bed unit and the dementia unit, remains intact. Those projects...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Browne for raising the important matter of dexamethasone. As he rightly says, this is something we have been hearing an awful lot more about in the last 24 hours. In March, the Randomised Evaluation of Covid-19 Therapy, RECOVERY, trial was established as a randomised clinical trial to test a range of potential treatments for Covid-19, including a low dose of dexamethasone,...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I welcome this opportunity to once again update the House on the Covid-19 disease and our ongoing national response and effort to it. First, and most importantly, as I do every week I wish to express my sympathy to the family and friends of those who have been lost to this disease since I was last in the House. We should always be conscious of them as we talk about progress, statistics and...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (16 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: The measures taken are underpinned by a clear public health rationale. As the number of indigenous cases here declines and Ireland eases some restrictions, the relative importance of the risk of importation of cases from overseas increases. Ultimately, the progress towards suppression of community transmission which has been achieved and which should allow for greater resumption of social...