Results 9,621-9,640 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: The colour coding system is a proposal from NPHET for consideration at Government level. The Government is putting together the new detailed roadmap which will be available for debate and discussion in the Oireachtas in the coming weeks. Regardless of what is decided in the new roadmap, between now and Christmas we are in a new chapter. The strategy is: follow the public health advice,...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank Deputy Duncan Smith for his questions. I would like to correct several incorrect statements which he made. First, I was available to come to the committee. The Chair and I had detailed communications on that and I am more than happy for Deputy Smith to discuss that with the Chair. That suggestion, therefore, is absolutely untrue. Deputy Smith, and not the committee, has also...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: That is fine. I will try to answer then. Let me take the Deputy as asking his question in good faith. The schools are opening this week. It is positive news. There is a very detailed plan for the reopening of schools and an enormous amount of work has gone on in that regard. I am sure Deputy Smith would agree with me on that aspect. The winter plan is happening months before it has...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: That is right.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: The purpose of randomised testing is to be part of a full suite of measures at the airports. Essentially, what we want to do is discourage non-essential foreign travel. For those who do need to travel, and for those who arrive here, we want to ensure that there are as many biosecurity measures in place as possible. Randomised testing is one part of a suite of measures to that end.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I will get a briefing note on that, but I believe there are other countries doing randomised testing.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: Regarding the Deputy's broad point on foreign travel and discouraging non-essential foreign travel, which is exactly what we are doing, we need to bear in mind that 97% to 98% of the cases in the country are not coming from abroad.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: The randomised testing is being rolled out as part of a suite of measures. It is not our objective to test 30%, 40% or 50%. It is not a mass testing measure. It is part of one of the measures that we are bringing in. The e-locator passenger form was launched this week.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: The purpose of randomised testing at airports is to provide an extra security measure in the context of testing and tracing people coming into the country.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I will.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I can answer the Deputy's question regarding 100,000 tests. The recommendation from NPHET was not that we should be doing 100,000 tests every week.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: The recommendation from NPHET was that we have the capacity to do 100,000 tests if that is required.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: Last week, more than 57,000 tests were carried out. What is happening right now is the exact answer to the Deputy's question. We had a much lower level of testing approximately two months ago when we were down to approximately 20 positive tests per day. As the Deputy is aware, there was a big programme of work involving weekly serial testing for nursing homes which was very useful but...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: ------it was right and proper that serial testing for nursing homes was rolled out.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: On top of that, we have a very serious capacity requirement-----

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: ------for schools and we have a higher level of community testing. That has brought us up to 57,000 tests. I heard the Deputy's interactions earlier with the representatives of NPHET. What NPHET is saying is that we must have spare capacity in the system such that we can implement measures such as this in response to outbreaks and our evolving knowledge of the virus.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: We are using it now. It is needed now. Last week, 57,000 tests were carried out. Last Friday, the number of tests carried out was the highest in any day since this virus arrived. The HSE acted on the advice of NPHET. It moved heaven and earth to ensure we could scale up rapidly to 100,000 tests and we are now moving in that direction. Last week, we hit 57,000 tests. What we are seeing...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Chairman. It seems like Deputy Shortall is getting hung up on a word that somebody else used. I can tell her that NPHET has said that we need a testing capacity of 100,000.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: We have had serious outbreaks, we are now at a tipping point and we are rapidly scaling up and beginning to use a lot of that testing capacity of 100,000. It seems to me that the system is doing exactly what it was meant to do.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: We may well end up at a public inquiry into what happened in nursing homes. I know Deputy Kenny and many other Deputies have been advocating very strongly for that. The loss of life is heartbreaking and, understandably, relatives are asking whether all that could be done was done. We have to look at this now, not with the benefit of hindsight but with the benefit of understanding that what...