I thank Deputy Shanahan. I know he has raised the matter of cardiac care in the south east, as did the Acting Chair, Deputy Butler, earlier today. I know this is an important issue in the south east. I accept that we are not yet where we want to be, but I also acknowledge that there has been significant focus on trying to improve the outcome. We have had a mobile unit for a significant period. We gave sanction for a second cath lab since 24-7 coverage cannot be provided without a second cath lab. There is also a na…

My apologies. I know several hospitals are now beginning to do temperature testing. I do not believe that it is yet mandatory, but I will contact the HSPC, get some clinical guidance and then write to the Deputy.

That is no problem at all.

I will reply in the short time available to me. Whatever role I am in next week, if I am in any, I hope that Deputy Mattie McGrath and I can find another forum in which we can continue to exchange our views. We have had lots of ding-dongs during the time I have been Minister for Health. I respect the job that the Deputy has to do.

Let me shock the Deputy by agreeing with him on something because I think he is entirely right about the issue of churches. I take religious freedom very seriously. I also take the health and safety of people very seriously. The pandemic is real and has taken more than 2,000 lives on this island so far. Let us try to strike a note of harmony. The pandemic is real but people's faith is important. We must find a way for common sense to prevail. Some churches and cathedrals are large and I expect guidance tomorrow fro…

I will get the public health advice and the Government will make a decision tomorrow. I will fulfil my statutory duties in line with any laws in terms of any report I have to publish. I will come back to the Deputy about St. Brigid's District Hospital. Anyone who has a concern should not wait for a screening service but should go to see his or her GP today. The dates for the resumption of screening services were given earlier and that is important to people. I agree with the point made by Deputy O'Donoghue about no…

I do not think there was any spin there.

I think the figure is 18 hospitals. If that is not the number, I will write to the Deputy, but that is my memory. My understanding is that service level agreements are still being finalised.

That is right.

There were 19 hospitals involved.

I will have to revert to the Deputy. That will be done under the Patient (Safety) Licensing Bill but I will have to revert to her on that matter.

When I last inquired about this matter, which was before the pandemic, the situation was that the papers for planning permission were due to be lodged with An Bord Pleanála. The capital plan is funded. It is badly needed, as everyone has said. I am waiting for planning permission to be granted. The funding to deliver it is in place and the intention is to build it.

The Deputy is factually incorrect, and I say that respectfully. Every single year that I have been the Minister, the number of beds in the public health service, both inpatient and day case, has increased. I will not waste the Deputy's time reading the figures out. Every single year I have been Minister, the number of nurses and doctors in the public health service has increased. I take the criticism, which I think is valid, that it may not have happened at the pace we want. I will also take the criticism, because …

I welcome this opportunity to once again update the House on the Covid-19 disease and our ongoing national response and effort to it. First, and most importantly, as I do every week I wish to express my sympathy to the family and friends of those who have been lost to this disease since I was last in the House. We should always be conscious of them as we talk about progress, statistics and numbers. Behind statistics and numbers are real people who are grieving and feeling an immense sense of loss. Our thoughts are …

I thank Deputy Browne for raising the important matter of dexamethasone. As he rightly says, this is something we have been hearing an awful lot more about in the last 24 hours. In March, the Randomised Evaluation of Covid-19 Therapy, RECOVERY, trial was established as a randomised clinical trial to test a range of potential treatments for Covid-19, including a low dose of dexamethasone, which is a steroid treatment. More than 11,500 patients were enrolled at more than 175 NHS hospitals in the UK. A total of 2,104 …

I thank the Deputy for his questions. I will come back to him directly on his question about St. Patrick's Hospital, a site which I remember visiting with him quite a period of time ago. My commitment and that of the Department of Health and HSE to continuing the outlined capital development projects for that hospital, the 50-bed unit and the dementia unit, remains intact. Those projects remain in the capital plan and we will deliver them. St. Brigid's District Hospital in Carrick-on-Suir will return to its previou…

There is quite a bit to cover in quite a short space of time. Deputy Murnane O'Connor asked about dentists. As she said, the guidance for dentists was issued from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre on 15 May. Professor Martin Cormican and his team did some very good work which outlined how the profession can resume the provision of routine care. The work outlined detail on the personal protective equipment that may be required for routine dentistry. The Dental Council has indicated that dentists should carry…

First, I am happy to wish Deputy O'Reilly's husband the very best. There are not many people in Sinn Féin that I can say I have campaigned with, but I remember being at a campaign event for Together for Yes with her husband. I am glad to hear he is doing well and has had a good experience. The reason Deputy O'Reilly highlighted that point was screening. We will be led by the clinicians on this. I have given a commitment in the House that restart dates will be given at the end of this month. I am due to meet represe…

My final week has been predicted so many times - sometimes, Sinn Féin has tried to bring it about earlier than I would have wished - so who knows? Regarding the important matter that Deputy Carthy raised, I could hear the frustration in his voice, which I can only imagine is amplified among all of the parents and everyone else in Carrickmacross. I will accept the Deputy's challenge and request to take a personal interest. It sounds to me like many different organisations have been involved; the Deputy mentioned cou…

I do not want Deputy Quinlivan to believe that I can be held accountable for a draft programme for Government, but I take the serious point that he makes about supporting drug and alcohol forums. We need to see increases in their funding in future budgets. That will be a matter for a new Government and this Oireachtas. I share the Deputy's view of the incredible work being done by staff in our addiction services. We have seen that in the low level, thank God, of Covid infections among certain communities, including…