There is a need to advise people of what the state is in countries. Some other countries are in a much worse situation. Overall, we are saying that the safest thing to do is to stay at home and take a holiday in Ireland this year. That, to me, is fairly basic and fairly sensible. We have a very restrictive travel regime at the moment in terms of our advice. It is very restrictive and travel is on the floor. The next stage is that we will be putting in place a call centre and the electronic locator form. Contact tra…

Two Deputies were.

I will get specifics on any incidences of infection in a workplace arising as a result of travel. I am not aware of any such incidences. There have been infections resulting from travel that have had a knock-on impact, many involving households. Deputies may be aware of the house party that took place in Killarney, for example. As stated earlier, the bigger threat relates to how people behave in groups or as individuals. Despite all the hype, it boils down to individual and community behaviour. There should not be …

I stated last week that there is either a rate for a position, in this case the super junior Ministry, or there is not. The matter will be regularised. There are three super junior Ministers, one of whom is the Chief Whip. The matter will be regularised. Either one is a super junior Minister with a seat at the Cabinet table or one is not. On the points raised by Deputy Boyd Barrett, the key issue is that the incidence of the virus is lower in the countries on the list than it is in Ireland. The Government makes dec…

In general, the Government has aligned its decisions with public health advice. People have suggested what they think should happen. Some people did not want schools to close as quickly as they did, but within days of the decision being announced they were calling for them to be closed. There has been ongoing constructive engagement with public health regarding the best thing to do. I refer to masks. The public health advice in the early stages of the pandemic was not to wear masks. There was a certain reticence re…

Similar comments were made regarding the wearing of masks on public transport. The bottom line is that the public did the right thing in that regard. We need to see the matter in perspective as well. We still have one of the most cautious travel regimes in Europe and across the globe.

In recent days, I attended a special meeting of the European Council in Brussels. The meeting, which was the first physical meeting of European Union leaders since February, began on Friday, 17 July. The meeting continued through the weekend and concluded in the early hours of Tuesday, 21 July. Even leaving aside the duration, it was by no means a normal meeting. We met against the backdrop of the Covid pandemic which has affected the economic, political and social well-being of the Continent and further afield in …

Ar dtús báire, déanaim comhbhrón le teaghlach Ruth Ní Mhuirgheasa, lena fear céile, Pól, agus lena hiníon, Libby. Is olc an scéal é ar fad. Rinne Ruth éacht oibre ar son mhná na hÉireann faoi láthair agus don todhchaí. Ar son an Stáit, cuirim m'fhíorbhrón in iúl as ucht an fhaillí a bhí i gceist leis an gclár scágthástála ceirbheacs. Gabhaim leithscéal ar son an Stáit. I gcónaí, caithfear an fhírinne a insint. Sheas Ruth Ní Mhuirgeasa ar son na fírinne i gcónaí. I was deeply saddened to learn of Ruth Morrissey's pa…

The apology by and commitment from the then Taoiseach and now Tánaiste on this matter were made in good faith. As the Deputy knows, the previous Government agreed that the High Court judge, Mr. Justice Charles Meenan, would be requested to review, in the cases of women affected by CervicalCheck issues, mechanisms that would avoid, where possible, women and their families having to go to court. That is the objective of the Government. Emerging from that report, a tribunal was to be established, and it will be establ…

First of all, a compensation tribunal is far less adversarial than any court system. We know that from experience in a variety of medical scandals going back to the various scandals relating to blood products and so on. In my view the tribunal is far more effective than a courts process. Ms Justice Mary Irvine is no longer in a position to take up the position as chair having been appointed President of the High Court, therefore, the Minister for Health is working with the Attorney General to make sure that the pos…

The national cervical screening programme is responsible for ensuring quality and providing regular oversight of the screening programme itself and the test.

I appreciate the Deputy's comments fully. I know the sincerity with which he makes them because he has been involved in this issue for quite some time and has been engaged with a number of the women who have been to the forefront of the campaign for greater disclosure and transparency around the programme itself and, above all, to enhance the programme in order that it can serve women in this country for the better into the future. Without question, as I have said, the programme failed women in this country. I agre…

As already stated in the context of the legislation the Deputy has identified, I will commit to working with him on going through the legislation on the Government side. Obviously, one needs to see detail of legislation before one commits to anything in that regard.

I agree with the principle, as I already stated. I am mindful that I would like to follow through on whatever I say in the House.

Equally, I am also stating that we will want to see the Bill the Deputy is bringing forward and so on. The whole idea of the tribunal was to create a less adversarial environment as an alternative to the courts. People will wish to access the courts as well and that is their entitlement and their right. We cannot take that either away from them. One lesson that must be learned from the entire CervicalCheck scandal relates to disclosure. The absence of disclosure was, in my view, a significant failing. The results o…

The strategy of the Government in the context of the roadmap that was outlined some weeks ago was to reopen society while at the same time suppressing the virus and keeping community transmission as low as possible. Societies and countries all over the world are experiencing difficulties in reopening, some a lot more severe than ours so far. The Government has taken a very cautious approach.

The Deputy has asked a question and is going to get the answer. I have made it clear, and I agree with what the Deputy has said, that the reopening of our schools at the end of August is the priority. The resumption of services for non-Covid illnesses and strands of health is a priority and it is challenging and very difficult. As the Deputy has said, aiding the recovery of our domestic economy as best we can is a priority and that is why the stimulus programme will be published, to outline a whole series of measur…

I do not think New Zealand is entirely comparable to Ireland. Let us be straight about that. It is not comparable in geography and many other issues. We should go behind the headlines sometimes. For example, people talk regularly about mandatory quarantine. It is not a great idea actually, and in some jurisdictions it actually led to a spread of the virus. This is not simple, and there are no easy answers. Travel into Ireland collapsed. There is very little travel into Ireland since the pandemic.

We have been discouraging travel since the beginning of the pandemic. The numbers are there to show it.

We did not ease the restrictions.