Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him for his contribution and work. I thank all involved in the Covid-19 response. There are key points that I wish to make on Covid-19 today. We were premature in getting rid of the mask mandate. Our vaccination programme worked without it being mandatory so we must have a real incentive for the vaccine booster programme. It is important that the replacement for the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, can be put in place as a matter of urgency to give the Minister and the Government the best advice so we can continue to be careful around Covid-19. The WHO speaks about mitigation and mask-wearing is a help in such mitigation. It is important that we reissue a call to people to wear masks.

I have a worry about the leaving certificate and we should come back to it.

My final point is about the Chief Medical Officer, CMO. I wish him well in his new position at Trinity College but it is wrong that the State would second him and pay him in tandem with the appointment of a new CMO who the State would also have to pay. I heard the Minister this morning on "Morning Ireland" and I watched the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, speak last night. I heard the Taoiseach speaking about this in the Dáil yesterday. Somebody signed off on this and it is not good enough. I take issue with it and I do not normally do so. It is wrong in any language. The Minister of State was correct in saying on this morning's "Morning Ireland" that we can learn from the pandemic and we should be prepared for future pandemics. I agree with the Minister in that respect and would walk to the end of the Earth to support him on it. What is happening with the secondment, however, is wrong and it should not be allowed. I thank the Minister for his work nonetheless, along with all the front-line staff and everybody who is involved with the fight against Covid-19.