Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like Senator Murphy, I have received notice, in the last hour, about what has been happening in east Galway. It is a private nursing home. The circumstances indicate exactly why we have moved to level 5, which is to protect and save lives. All of these measures that we have to endure, such as wearing a mask and taking a step back, are about saving lives. The nursing home is in dire straits. We are talking about the tracing and testing capability of the HSE but we also need to ensure we are supporting private nursing homes so they will have adequate staff, especially when staff are testing positive. As Senator Murphy pointed out, it is an emergency ask. I that this be raised with the Minister for Health so a request can be made of the HSE that it allocate resources urgently. I assume it is through primary health care so we are talking about Community Healthcare West. The resources need to be assigned today. We need the nursing home and the people in such dire straits to be supported. God forbid that we would have a loved one going through something like that.

The other point I want to make is on staying safe at this time because the evenings are getting darker. There was a fatal accident involving a pedestrian this morning outside Strokestown. All of us are going to be driving, speeding or rushing to where we need to go, but people will be walking with no footpaths in rural areas on dark evenings. Please be careful; please be safe. I will work with Senator Murphy on getting support as soon as possible.