Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leader for having this debate, which I requested. I am glad it is broken up into two parts.

Conscious of the 2,033 people who have died and the thousands of people who have tested positive, I am mindful of the gargantuan work being undertaken in our hospitals and in community care settings by our public servants.This debate is important. Earlier this week, I was walking in the gates of Leinster House and I met a man who had Covid-19 last April, and he told me that he still to this day is affected by it. That is the backdrop to this debate.

Senators Hoey and Boyhan very eloquently spoke about mental health. If we were to undertake an analysis of the world, the collective mental health of people has been severely impacted by this pandemic. Therefore, there is a real need to have a conversation about mental health. I am conscious that we are in a dilemma and that we are at a crossroads in our society about the competing demands of public health and of business. There is a balance that we need to achieve. I am mindful that we have had the good news of vaccines being announced but I am also conscious that, today, AstraZenaca acknowledged there are manufacturing errors in its vaccine. Let us look at that.

I know I am semi-detached from Government, although not really. I want to make this appeal as an ordinary citizen on behalf of many who are petrified, who are afraid who turn on the six o'clock news or the 5.30 p.m. news to get the numbers of the day, and to hear the public press conference. I appeal to Ministers and the representatives of NPHET to stop flying kites in the media. The selective releasing of information is not good enough. We are feeding a beast, and we should not. Let us make our decisions and announce them, and do so on behalf of the citizens and the public servants of our country. There is a need for Government and NPHET to work together and to have differences, absolutely, but we must have a roadmap whereby we can coexist with Covid-19.

Senator Doherty is right when she speaks about the whole issue of contact tracing. I made this point here two weeks ago. There are people to this day who have not had a phone call from contact tracers. There are people to this day who have not had a scintilla of information from the HSE. There is confusion around messaging, which there should not be.

I am extremely conscious that everyone is trying to do their best. However, as the Minister of State has testified, we are focused on Healthy Ireland, the well-being of people and the holistic approach to looking after each other. One of the positives of Covid-19, and I do not mean this to sound controversial, has been the re-emergence of community. The "meitheal" without being a meitheal has been reformed, if Members understand me. People are now looking in on one another. The act of neighbourliness has become part of our daily routine and whereas it was gone before, now it is back. Cork City Council won an award today from Chambers Ireland on the whole issue of community - the gathering of people without gathering, if Members knows what I mean.

There needs to be confidence around contact tracing. I very much welcome the appointment of Professor Brian MacCraith and the whole issue around vaccine supply. I wish him well. I appeal to the Minister of State, as somebody who understands people, that the vaccine supply group that Professor MacCraith chairs has to succeed. We cannot go back to the old days of, dare I say it, Joe Jacob and the iodine tablets. We must move on from that and we must be prepared to plan. Look at what is happening in America, with Joe Biden, the incoming President, and his corona task force planning. Planning is critical.

There are people today in nursing homes who cannot have a visit from a loved one and people who are working tirelessly for all of us. It is our job to work to support them. It is the Government's job to govern. Please let us not do so by the selective giving of information.