Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish everybody well. I also wish those who will be involved in the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine well. We depend so much on their efforts and we all know people who are in the particularly vulnerable categories who depend on their efforts.

On the subject of the Covid-19 vaccinations, I would like to raise the situation that applies to residential care settings that are not regulated by HIQA. As I understand it, the provision of home care, whether it is by the HSE directly, outsourced to private companies or organised directly by individuals or a group of individuals, is not regulated by HIQA. This would apply, for example, to certain religious orders and the care homes they maintain in their communities.

I say this being mindful of the fact that this is a difficult time for hundreds and thousands of men and women in Ireland who did so much to make Ireland and the world a better place, despite the inadequacies and harshness - as we now perceive these to be - which we have been discussing in recent days. I was contacted by those in one such setting in Leinster, where there are 24 men in a nursing home facility, all of whom are over the age of 80. They were at pains to say to me that they are not looking for any kind of special treatment but that they and those who care for them are anxious that they would not be left behind in the Covid-19 vaccinations. I am aware of other such care settings in which the same issue would not apply because they are not HIQA-regulated and in which there are concerns that they might be left behind. I have directly contacted the Minister for Health about this particular case but I want to draw the attention of the House to it because it is important in these days, as we are discussing the vaccine and who gets it first. We know about the controversy that arose in the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital. With the best will in the world, mistakes can happen but it is important that the system would be mindful that there are other categories of people outside of HIQA-regulated settings who will need early treatment with this vaccine.

There has also been a great deal of concern regarding the advice recently issued by the HSE about the vaccine being administered to people who are in a frail condition and whose life expectancy might not exceed the time it will take for the vaccine to take effect. This highlights the need for us to discuss these issues with great care and caution and to be mindful of the impact that these discussions are having on people who are often frightened.