Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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577. To ask the Minister for Health the actions he will take to ensure older persons will get their full visit entitlement under the Health Protection Surveillance Centre guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43349/20]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The importance of continued social interaction of residents and their families cannot be overstated and every effort should be made, in line with public health advice, to ensure that these interactions continue. The Plan for Living with COVID-19 Framework has been developed to help us to go about our daily lives as much as possible, with measures aimed at the key priorities of protecting health, strengthening employment, and supporting communities. The system is communicated through a numbered system of alert Levels, from 1 to 5 with Level 1 being the lowest with the least amount of restrictive measures in place and Level 5 being the highest with the most restrictions in place.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre published updated guidance on visitations to long term residential care facilities on 30 November. The new guidance which came into effect from 7 December, aims to further support long-term residential care services, including nursing homes and residents in planning visits across all levels of the framework for restrictive measures in the government’s Plan for Living with COVID-19.

This new guidance outlines an updated definition for ‘critical and compassionate circumstances’, which now provides that, subject to risk assessment, residents may be facilitated to receive:

- up to one visit by one person per week under Levels 3 and 4 of the framework;

- up to one visit by one person per two weeks under Level 5.

It also notes that at all framework levels every practical effort should be made to accommodate an additional visit on compassionate grounds during the period of a major cultural or religious festival or celebration of particular significance to the resident, such as the Christmas/New Year period.

Given the importance of facilitating visiting over the Winter period and over Christmas, the Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme (TAPS) has been expanded on a once-off basis to allow a claim of up to €2,500 per eligible nursing home. This will enable them to create additional safe visiting spaces and enhance current visiting spaces.

Enhancement of safe visiting spaces is aligned with the overriding aim of TAPS, which is to support nursing homes in keeping residents safe and reduce the risk of infection and transmission into the nursing home. It is recognised that residents and their families will prioritise visiting over this period and these spaces will provide for these visits to be undertaken in a way that reduces the health and other risks of outdoor visiting on residents and their visitors, who may themselves be older and more vulnerable.

Nursing home providers are ultimately responsible for the safe care of their residents. Under Regulation 11 of the Health Act 2007 (Care and Welfare of Residents in Designated Centres for Older People) Regulations 2013 it is the legal responsibility of each registered provider to make arrangements for a resident to receive visitors, having regard to any risks that may present for the resident or other residents. I encourage all nursing homes to remain familiar with the latest public health advice and support, and to make every effort to continue to facilitate visitors in line with public health advice and to communicate with family and friends on an ongoing basis in order to support positive mental health and wellbeing. I have communicated with the sector outlining the need for them to be flexible, innovative and to facilitate visiting arrangements, in line with public health advice.

Notwithstanding this, it is also important to be cognisant of the wider epidemiological situation and the risks associated with same. On 19 November, the European Centre for Disease Control published its latest risk assessment with regard to long-term care facilities across Europe. It highlights that the probability of COVID-19 introduction into a long-term care facility depends on the level of COVID-19 circulation in the community, with a higher risk associated with higher incidence rates in the community.

This highlights the importance of suppressing the level of the virus in the community as one of the primary measures for protecting nursing homes. As citizens, we all have a responsibility in this regard and our actions across all of society can directly impact the outcomes for nursing home residents.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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578. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the maternity restrictions in Mayo University Hospital as there are currently no reported cases in MUH; his plans to allow birthing partners attend scans and births, as this is causing major anxiety to couples; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43353/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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579. To ask the Minister for Health when the Covid-19 report will be available on Mayo University Hospital; the recommendations that have been identified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43354/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Saolta University Health Care Group advise that a report on Covid-19 at Mayo University Hospital is due to be formally signed off in the coming weeks and that it will be available thereafter.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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580. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide clarification on the position of posted workers (details supplied). [43359/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Currently, all passengers entering Ireland from orange, red, and grey regions are requested to restrict their movements for 14 days. This general request to restrict movement for 14 days does not apply to certain defined categories, including travellers with an essential function or need as set out in paragraph 19 of EU Council Recommendation 2020/1475.

Paragraph 19 lists categories of travellers with an essential function or need who should not be required to undergo quarantine while exercising this essential function. These include:

Workers or self-employed persons exercising critical occupations including health care workers, frontier and posted workers as well as seasonal workers as referred to in the Guidelines concerning the exercise of the free movement of workers during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The guidelines referred to are contained in the Official Journal of the European Union, issue 63. The guidelines list workers in critical occupations, including frontier and posted workers, as those exercising the following occupations:

- Health professionals including paramedical professionals;

- Personal care workers in health services, including care workers for children, persons with disabilities and the elderly;

- Scientists in health-related industries;

- Workers in pharmaceutical and medical devices industry;

- Workers involved in the supply of goods, in particular for the supply chain of medicines, medical supplies, medical devices and personal protective equipment, including in their installation and maintenance;

- Information and Communications Technology Professionals;

- Information and Communications Technicians and other technicians for essential maintenance of the equipment;

- Engineering professionals such as energy technicians, engineers and electrical engineering technicians;

- Persons working on critical or otherwise essential infrastructures;

- Science and engineering associate professionals (includes water plant technicians);

-Protective services workers;

- Firefighters/Police Officers/Prison Guards/Security Guards/ Civil Protection Personnel;

- Food manufacturing and processing and related trades and maintenance workers;

- Food and related products machine operators (includes food production operator);

- Transport workers, in particular:

- Car, Van and Motorcycle Drivers, Heavy Truck and Bus Drivers (includes Bus and tram drivers) and ambulance drivers, including those drivers who transport assistance offered under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and those transporting repatriated EU citizens from another Member State to their place or origin;

- Airline pilots;

- Train drivers; wagon inspectors, maintenance workshops’ staff as well as the infrastructure managers’ staff involved in traffic management and capacity allocation;

- Maritime and inland navigation workers;

- Fishermen;

- Staff of public institutions, including international organisations, in critical function.