Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have a timer with me so, hopefully, I will not take too long. I welcome the Minister of State. We all appreciate the reality of the situation. We have been doing this for what feels like forever. People almost do not know another way. We are just living with Covid and in and out of things. I commend the efforts of everybody doing their bit to tackle this virus. I particularly wish to thank my sisters, one of whom is working long shifts to ensure we have sanitation items while the other is a healthcare worker caring for vulnerable people. I am sure she will be doing that after this virus is long gone. I am taking a moment to thank my sisters because I love and care for them, but there are other people who are keeping our society, well-being and economy going. I thank them and appreciate all the work. There are also people in the Seanad who are keeping everything ticking over.

I recognise that no Minister for Health or Government in living memory has ever had to deal with an issue of public health on this scale, and no Opposition has ever had to question or raise issues on something of this level. We are all learning and trying our best.That said, we need to make sure we are taking the learning of the past on board, because the stakes are simply too high. It is not hyperbole to say that lives are indeed on the line.

We want to see, as does the public, that the learnings of the past eight months have been taken on board for the planning of the exit from level 5. There needs to be a slow, step-down approach and a moving through the levels. There needs to be proper messaging around public health guidelines, social distancing, mask wearing, hand washing, and clear and concise communication from Government on the restrictions at each point of the scale.

We are also coming into a particular time of year in Ireland. Whether one is a Christian or not, it is a special time of celebration here. We need to be very aware of the added complications that will come from that.

Will the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, outline why the current position of the Government is to go to level 3 and not level 4 if there are plans to slowly work our way down through the levels, as were the initial the levels for working up and down?

Another issue, which I have raised with the Minister for Health a number of times, is that of student nurses. On the Order of Business this morning, I was a little bit surprised today to hear Members from the Government side, from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, calling for recognition and pay for student nurses. I have asked the Minister for Health at the health committee, I have asked him in writing and I have asked him in this Chamber to recognise the contribution of student nurses, who are working up and down this country to keep our hospitals open. Now, as a result of Covid, they are in a position whereby they cannot do paid work elsewhere in a healthcare setting, due to the fear of cross contamination. The Minister has refused a number of times to commit to changing this. Perhaps by having Members from the Government side and other Senators speaking up for nurses in the Seanad, I hope that this is a contribution towards a change in Government policy and perhaps we will see student nurses being paid. I have raised previously the gendered issue of student nurses. We have trainees in other areas such as apprenticeships who get paid. The vast majority of student nurses are women, so I see it also as being a gender issue. The idea that student nurses are in an educational setting and, therefore, are not workers is not going to wash with me, it is not going to wash with the INMO, and it is certainly not going to wash with the student nurses. It is shot back at us whenever we raise the issue of student nurses' pay. There are whisperings that we do not pay any other student worker during their studies so why should we pay student nurses. To that I say that all workers, regardless of student status, should be paid for the work they do. I will not go off on an educational tangent as I am wont to do, but we must be aware that if a person knows that he or she must take on an unpaid placement throughout their studies, and if he or she does not have the financial support to do so, who are we locking out of this field of study and who will not be able to undertake that field of study? What is being done about student nurses? What is the Minister of State going to do about student nurses' pay? What will the Minister of State say to those student nurses who right now are on Covid wards and putting their lives at risk to help us battle through this health crisis?

I echo the comments made about maternity care and support. I spoke in the Seanad about this recently. Not too long ago in Ireland we had a very prolific campaign around care and compassion in maternity care. There is no time when we need care and compassion in maternity care more than during this pandemic. I spoke previously about a friend who very recently had a baby. Due to the fact that her partner was not able to visit her she could not get out of the bed to go to the bathroom. Between her partner not being there and the nurses simply being rushed off their feet she had to lie in the bed, soiled. That is not how we should treat people and it has very serious long-term trauma implications. My friend is a shell of a person. This was a deeply traumatic experience for her and her partner was not there to help her. This trauma is not just happening to new parents, it is also happening to people who might have just found out that they may not be new parents, which is very tragic and upsetting. We have talked about this a number of times in both Houses. I plead once again in this House that we need to deal with this issue and I ask the Minister what will happen in this regard.

I now turn to other diagnostic areas that have suffered due to Covid-19. I met with representatives from the Irish Cancer Society recently and got a comprehensive oversight of where they are at the moment. In my conversation with them, they estimated there are currently 600 people with an undiagnosed cancer due to issues around diagnostics and the slowing down of services. That is 600 people right now who are potentially living with cancer. We are all aware that early intervention in such matters is crucial to try to ensure a positive outcome.I am only reflecting on one diagnostic area but many areas have been affected by the Covid-19 crisis. I would welcome some comment from the Minister of State on this backlog and how it will be dealt with.

I also want to take a moment to talk about CervicalCheck and smear tests. In the past few days the requirement for a doctor's note or a doctor's referral to get a smear test has been waived. If people feel they are due one, whether it is for the first time or not, they can make that appointment. There was a very low uptake of CervicalCheck smear tests over the past few months. These are life-saving tests and while we are making enormous efforts in other life-saving areas, I encourage anyone who is eligible to go for a smear test, to make that appointment and to get that done.

We are coming into the Christmas period. We need to be slow and steady and we need clear leadership and guidance from the Government to get us through the lessons from this most recent lockdown. The first time we go through something, it is a learning experience. If we repeat the exact same things the second time without learning from them, perhaps they will become mistakes. We need to learn from exiting this lockdown to ensure we do not find ourselves in another one after Christmas. I wish the Minister of State and all in the Department of Health the very best. All of us here are with them and are working with them in our communities to try to ensure as safe an experience as possible in getting people through Christmas during Covid and out the other side.