Seanad debates

Wednesday, 15 December 2021

Health and Criminal Justice (Covid-19) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages

 

10:30 am

Photo of Jerry ButtimerJerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Well okay, but they get a half day on Wednesday so it is two and half days. I am not going to have a row with the Senator. My point is that if we are seriously looking at how we can prevent the spread of the disease, that is one part of our arsenal.

The people who work in our vaccination centres deserve great credit. There have been issues arising from a breakdown in communication which is disappointing. I appeal to the Minister of State that she would go back to the HSE on the matter of redeployment of people. I do not mean to be adversarial. I know that some will say that I am trying to be adversarial but I am not. I am trying to be helpful. We are nearly at Christmas. If we want to come forward to January, how do we prevent a spike and our most vulnerable becoming unwell? Part of what we should do is to close our primary schools early. I accept that there are people who will disagree with me. That is fair enough. We live in a democracy and I am a democrat.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I hope that she does not take my remarks as controversial or adversarial. It is something I have read about and considered over recent weeks. We hear of people talking about young people wearing masks in school. The majority of young children in school today are coping admirably with wearing a mask. They get on with it. It has become part of their daily lives whether it is going to the shops, to mass or interacting with other family members. We should support and thank our young people for what they have done.

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