Covid-19 (Health): Statements
Dail Éireann — 2020-05-21
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Ossian Smyth (GP), Dún Laoghaire

I want to move on to scenario planning. In general, the simple way of planning for things is that we look at what is likely to happen based on what has happened in the past. Things continue on and they go along a line. However, because this is a novel coronavirus and we do not know exactly what path the disease will take, there are several different possibilities that have profound implications across different sectors of society. It covers everything from whether a double-decker bus carries 17, 35 or 50 people to how many people will be able to go into a waiting room for a medical service. We have many different possible outcomes. Different amounts of money will have to be borrowed and different quantities of services will be available. It is actually a time when we need scenario planning. Will the Minister consider asking for some proper scenario planning to be carried out? I do not know whether that should be by econometricians or someone else.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2020-05-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:48:18+00:00
Sitting date: 2020-05-21