I thank Senator Warfield. I also thank all the Senators for their contributions to this debate on Covid-19. It is clear that we have a common goal of reopening Ireland safely. While we would like to open Ireland completely at this time, unfortunately, that is not possible. The virus is still circulating in our community and while at large, it poses a very real threat to all of us, particularly those who are most vulnerable. As referenced earlier, 71,000 cases of Covid-19 have been detected in Ireland, with 2,000 de…

My child got it about a month ago and it seems to be going well but I was not sure about the 20% take-up. We can follow that up. The Acting Chair is on the mental health committee and I praise Senator Black for heading up that committee. It is hugely important and she has done great work on many of those important issues and I wish her well in that committee. The Acting Chair also praised Senator Doherty. Think of the work the Senator did in her Department when this Covid crisis arose and she was not elected to the…

I pay tribute to my staff and all the drug and alcohol task forces. There was a collaboration between all the services for people who are homeless, use drugs and so on. It showed the work that was done and I thank the Senator for acknowledging that. I pay tribute to the people in the Department for the work they have done. The Government will review current level 5 measures and consider the next phase of the response to Covid under the living with Covid plan. This will include consideration of any recommendations f…

I thank my colleague for raising this issue. The Minister for Justice yesterday welcomed the publication of the report of the committee for the prevention of torture and fully acknowledges the importance of external oversight and evaluation in helping develop and improve our penal systems. While the report offers encouragement in a number of areas and recognises progress made, it clearly identifies issues that need to be addressed urgently. Among the issues to be welcomed is the introduction by the Irish Prison Ser…

The Government is committed to delivering safe, secure and humane custody for those sent to prison in this State. This includes the provision of appropriate mental health services to persons in custody. We accept the CPT's findings that there is much to be done in this regard but welcome its recognition that progress has been made in a number of areas. We are considering how best to deliver appropriate CMH inpatient and step-down resources, complemented by adequate prison in-reach and community forensic mental heal…

I thank Senator Doherty for raising the issue. The National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy 2019-2021 sets out Government policy for promoting inclusion, targeting discrimination, and improving the quality of life and well-being for the LGBTI+ community in Ireland. It is supported by the LGBTI+ National Youth Strategy 2018-2020. The strategy commits to ensuring that people can fully and equally avail of mainstream health services. In addition, the strategy recognises that targeted services are needed to support transgend…

I am committed to supporting the HSE in ensuring that people wishing to transition their gender have timely access to treatment that accords with the best practice. I note the Senator's welcome for the report. I want to see the HSE develop a well-governed and patient-centred healthcare service for adults and children in the transgender community in line with the programme for Government. The report of the steering committee on the development of HSE transgender identity services is an important step in achieving th…

I thank Senator Mullen for raising this matter. I would love to see the churches open again. Indeed, I, my wife and my family are looking forward to returning to mass, and I am proud to say that as a politician. The Government's strategy, in line with the public health advice, is disease suppression. Covid-19 spreads when individuals and groups come into close contact with each other, enabling the virus to move from one person to another. The framework for restrictive measures is framed to account for periods when …

I thank Senator Mullen for being so diplomatic in his response to my reply. The Government recognises the immense sacrifices that are being made by the country in this difficult time. As I mentioned, there has been significant engagement and solidarity from the Catholic Church and other faith communities at all stages through the pandemic to ensure the protection of individuals and communities from Covid-19. I agree with the Senator. As a politician and Minister of State and as a citizen, I believe the churches hav…

I thank the Deputies for raising this issue. The directive on patient's rights in cross-border healthcare, commonly called the cross-border directive, provides rules for the reimbursement to patients of the cost of receiving treatment abroad where the patient would be entitled to such treatment in his or her home member state. The directive seeks to ensure a clear and transparent framework for the provision of cross-border healthcare within the EU for those occasions where the care patients seek is provided in anot…

I fully understand the reasons why the Deputies have raised this issue. The decision of our neighbour to leave the EU will have unfortunate, negative implications for Ireland that are outside our control. This includes the loss of access to healthcare services currently provided for through the cross-border directive, CBD, representing a substantive and real loss of access to healthcare services for Irish people. As I said, the Department of Health officials are continuing to examine this matter with a view to ensu…

May I take this opportunity to congratulate you, a Leas-Chathaoirligh, and Cavan on a wonderful victory last Sunday? I am pleased to have this opportunity to address the House on Second Stage of the Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2020. This is a short and technical Bill comprising six sections, all focused on the specific issue of health insurance. This legislation is needed in order to revise the parameters of the risk equalisation scheme, which is a financial mechanism that supports our community-rated health …

I thank Senators for their support for the Bill and for their contributions to the debate. Health insurance is held by a very large proportion of people in Ireland relative to other countries. As Senator Hoey pointed out, 45% of the population is quite large by European standards. Community rating is a fundamental cornerstone of the Irish health insurance system. This means people who are old or sick do not have to pay more than the young and healthy, whereas in other health insurance systems the level of risk that…

I thank all Senators for their contributions to this important debate on the Government's response to Covid-19, including the plan for living with Covid-19, Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021. Our overall goal is to reopen our society and economy as safely as possible. This is a challenge facing Governments the world over. Senators will have seen the responses to the pandemic that have been undertaken by countries across the world. With over 50 million Covid-19 cases now detected and the numbers rising daily, clear …

I thank Deputy Stanley for giving me the opportunity to update the House, on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, on the schools-based immunisation programme in the midlands. We know from international literature that the highest uptake is obtained if immunisations are delivered in schools. It is vital, therefore, that children have an opportunity to avail of their immunisations in this way. We are all too aware of the disruption that has been caused globally and here in Ireland due to the pandemic and,…

Deputies Cowen and Flanagan have raised this issue as well. Vaccination is recognised as one of the most cost-effective and successful public health interventions that exists. The World Health Organization, WHO, estimates that 2 to 3 million deaths a year are prevented by vaccination, and a further 1.5 million could be avoided if global coverage of vaccinations improved. I thank Deputy Stanley for his kind remarks. We are all supportive of the schools-based immunisation programmes and recognise that the uptake of t…

I thank the Senator for his good wishes. I come from the constituency comprising Sligo, Leitrim, north Roscommon and south Donegal and I understand that some of my constituents in Donegal are playing a big match against the Senator's county next Sunday in the Ulster final. I thank the Senator for raising this issue and giving me the opportunity to outline the position on plans for the development of a new accident and emergency unit at Cavan General Hospital. Cavan and Monaghan hospitals are part of the RCSI hospit…

I again thank the Senator for his great interest in this project. As he knows, the Covid-19 pandemic has placed increased demands on emergency departments, particularly in respect of infection prevention and control. The Government is committed to developing the emergency department at Cavan General Hospital and the project under way intends to provide a second resuscitation room, additional clinical administration area and an additional waiting area at the hospital. The design team has been selected and some propo…

First, let me thank the Deputy for raising what I know is a very important issue. I fully understand how important the midwifery-led unit at Cavan General Hospital is to the women and families who access maternity care there. In that regard, on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, I would like to commit to ensuring that midwifery-led services will continue to be available at the hospital. Last June, the Department of Health became aware of reports in local media referring to the planned merger of the mi…

I thank the Deputy for her passionate work and support on this important issue. Much good work has been done since 2004. The programme for Government commits to the implementation of the national maternity strategy, which recommends the development and expansion of midwifery services through the provision of a midwifery-led model of care within a multidisciplinary team for pregnant women deemed to be at normal risk. Good progress has been made since the strategy's publication in 2016, with midwifery-led care and co…