David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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129. To ask the Minister for Health when pharmacies will receive the PPE, in particular surgical masks, that was promised by the HSE to keep pharmacy staff and their vulnerable customers safe from the potential risk of catching or spreading Covid-19 infection in the course of their working day in the pharmacy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24261/20]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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136. To ask the Minister for Health when pharmacies will receive the surgical masks that the HSE agreed with a union (details supplied) will be supplied in order to keep pharmacy staff safe from the potential risk of catching or spreading Covid-19 infection in the pharmacy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24292/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 129 and 136 together.

My Department, in conjunction with the HSE, is examining the issue of the provision of PPE across all parts of the health service, including health service contractors.

I will keep the Deputy updated on progress.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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130. To ask the Minister for Health if a 14-day view of Covid-19 cases will be published by electoral division regularly (details supplied) [24262/20]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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131. To ask the Minister for Health the details of all Covid-19 cases for the most recent 14-day period available by South Dublin County Council electoral division [24263/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 130 and 131 together.

Since the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) met for the first time, a commitment was given to collect and publish as much relevant data as possible while ensuring individual patient confidentiality is maintained at all times. While the nature and scale of the Covid-19 pandemic has been unprecedented, the collection of timely and comprehensive data has been instrumental in developing the health service response to Covid-19 and to the advice provided by NPHET and the Department of Health to assist Government decision-making in the wider response to the disease in Ireland.

Comprehensive national statistics, information and data about Covid-19, including a timeline of confirmed cases by date, is published on a daily basis on the Department of Health website at and on the Covid-19 Data Hub and Dashboards available at . The published data are based on official figures provided by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) and the Health Service Executive (HSE).

All datasets, charts and maps are updated on an on-going basis and in line with newly published data. Data in relation to COVID-19 confirmed cases at electoral division level are updated on a regular basis. However, the Deputy should note that care is required to ensure patient confidentiality is preserved and that no potential identification of individual patients arises. As a result, the data relating to confirmed cases by electoral division is not updated on as frequent a basis as the other data on the Data Hub.

The Deputy may also wish to note that a range data on the epidemiology of Covid-19 in Ireland is also published in the daily report by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) available at .

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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132. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to make changes to the restrictions policy in allowing birthing partners to attend the births with new mothers in addition to appointments leading up to that in University Maternity Hospital Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24271/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge that the current restrictions in maternity hospitals are presenting difficulties and this is hugely regrettable.  However, it is necessary to reduce footfall in order to protect women, babies, staff and our maternity service as a whole. 

Maternity hospitals have performed well during the pandemic and have continued to keep women, babies and staff safe.  The fact that there have been no Covid maternal deaths in this country,and that we have a had a low incidence in pregnant women, suggests that the current approach is working.  However, we must remain vigilant as services resume and higher numbers of people attend hospitals. Maternity hospitals rely on very specialised personnel; should an outbreak of COVID-19 occur in a maternity hospital, the ability to provide safe, quality care would be severely impacted.  It should be remembered that maternity hospitals care for fragile infants at the extremes of prematurity.

All maternity hospitals are challenged by the pandemic, but those challenges vary considerably.  Decisions on any restrictions are therefore made, implemented and reviewed at hospital level.

Decisions to restrict visitors in our maternity hospitals have not been taken lightly.  Management and staff are acutely aware of the very important support provided by partners at the time of birth.  I have been assured that maternity hospitals wish to facilitate this support as far as possible.   In that context, I can assure the Deputy that restrictions, currently in place in University Maternity Hospital Limerick, have been minimised as much as possible and will be subject to ongoing review