I share the Deputy's view that it is very heartwarming to see nursing homes able to begin to open to visitors again. I would make the point, which I am sure he will agree with, that they need to do so in a cautious manner and that nobody here is putting pressure on a nursing home to open until its management believes it safe to do so. A nursing home's first duty of care is to the residents for whom it is their home. The process requires a lot of vigilance and a huge amount of work has been undertaken by nursing hom…

The other day I saw a picture of myself on social media that was taken on my first day as Minister for Health. I must say that I got kind of a fright when I saw myself in the mirror shortly thereafter. In the context of the antibody testing, it commenced on 15 June, from which date a total of 5,200 letters will ultimately be posted to a random sample of individuals aged between 12 and 69, 3, 200 of them in Dublin and 2,000 in Sligo. The sample will be representative of the population by age and sex and it is a very…

The more progress we make in suppressing the virus, the more we can begin to open up services. The two biggest risks in terms of its re-emergence or a second wave are, first, the risk of complacency and that we all get fatigued by the public health measures, which is understandable but cannot happen, and, second, the risk of imported cases. We all remember back at the start of the pandemic that there was much concern about imported cases, with people asking which aeroplane might have been involved or which country.…

I thank Deputy Ossian Smyth for raising this issue not just today but on a regular basis. The short answer to his question is "Yes", testing has started. My understanding is that beta testing of the early release of the software is seeking feedback aimed at improving its quality before it is released. The application has been deployed as part of a field trial within An Garda Síochána. That trial has been running for two weeks and it will give us some very good information. There is good progress being made and I ho…

The Deputy has no vested interest in the question because he is clearly pure on the matter. I take his point. This is a serious business issue for so many people whose doors have been shut for a lengthy time now. Businesses want to know when they can take staff back on their books. I made the point in this House last week that this is an issue of people's mental health and well-being as well in terms of how they feel about themselves, male and female. I would like to see the hairdressers open as quickly as possible…

We helpfully published the methodology behind the model in great detail in recent weeks, which I know people in this House had been requesting. Learned minds can give consideration to that. As I have previously said, and more importantly the Chief Medical Officer has said, there is not any one marker. I have heard an occasional criticism of NPHET in this House. For what it is worth, my view as an outgoing Minister is that NPHET will continue to have a major role to play in the public health emergency in terms of th…

I will have to revert to my colleague, the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, to get the Deputy an accurate answer on that matter. There is a broader issue around sick pay schemes and so on that operate in some workplaces but that is perhaps for another day's debate. I will revert to the Deputy on the matter tomorrow.

I thank the Deputy for his kind words. I also thank him for his role. One of the reasons we have been able to bring people with us, apart from the brilliance of the Irish people and their own determination, is because no party has played party politics with this issue. I have sat in meetings with Deputy Howlin, Deputy Shortall and many other Deputies here since the start of this crisis, and particularly at the start of it. The approach of managing it in a public health-led way has made my role easier. I again thank…

This is a very timely question because only today I received correspondence from the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety about this matter and I also had calls with six or seven separate European health ministers yesterday on it. We are spending an awful lot of time at a European level, at health ministers' Councils and the like, trying to take a joint European approach to this. We have invested most of our time and energy in trying to procure any vaccine that may become available on a European level a…

The reason the Deputy is not quite sure is that I asked my Department only this morning to seek an update from the HSE on the matter. It is my sense that it is being used but I want to get that confirmed by the HSE today. This is something the NHS has started using literally from today and I expect to be in a position to update the Deputy on it by tomorrow. My view on the vaccine is one grounded in the same principle as the Deputy's, but the point I was trying to make was that, rather than individual member states …

First, I acknowledge Deputy Shortall's work on Sláintecare. I do not say this for any reason other than sincerity, but if I had put money on who would have been Minister for Health after the general election, I would have had her in contention and I am disappointed that we never had the opportunity to engage fully on the importance of Sláintecare. I welcome the fact that there is a commitment to accelerating it in the programme for Government. I was reading about this yesterday and my understanding is that it was a…

I hope the Deputy does not believe I am being disingenuous in regard to our commitment to Sláintecare and I can assure her if a new Government is formed it will be the case that, as I have heard her say, it will be about reform alongside funding. Whichever party is in the new Government will need to show real contractual reform in terms of the consultants' contract and regional areas, something we can come back to another day. The Deputy is right about the second wave. The current advice, accepting that these thing…

In fairness, last week I said in the House that the roadmap would be considered by the HSE board on Wednesday of this week, which is today. My understanding is that the board is considering the matter today. It is a fair point to say that many non-Covid activities have recommenced, and we are seeing evidence of that. The number of Covid-19 patients and vacant beds in hospitals are dramatically decreasing. I spoke to the HSE about Citywest yesterday. It is acceptable that it has been so little used up to now because…

We cannot get ahead of ourselves. A draft programme for Government has been agreed by three political parties and has to go through a process. If a Government is formed its members will be held to account by the House in terms of the implementation of the programme and questions arising from it. The Deputy still raises a fair point on the need not to return to the old way. Every time I meet anybody from the health sector, be it from a union, management or anybody else, I know they, like everybody else in the countr…

While we might not agree on everything, Deputy Kenny's sincerity and work rate on this is something I fully respect. He did a massive amount of work on this in the last Dáil and I know he will continue that in this Dáil. While I might not have gone as far as he would like, the Deputy certainly helped change and influence my position by introducing me to a number of people to whom this was very important. While he is right in the context of the compassionate access programme, we do need it open and I will give him a…

I do not mean to get in any way narky, but it gets under my skin when people criticise other people for applauding front-line workers. No political tradition owns front-line workers. They are our husbands, wives, mothers, brothers, sisters and fathers. We all know them and we are all immensely proud of them. We will applaud them and stand with them. We will do a lot more than applaud them, which I think is the Deputy's point. I regularly engage with unions on matters that come within my remit. I have excellent enga…

I ask the Deputy not to tell anybody else.

I thank Deputy Fitzpatrick for the questions. My own leader, the Taoiseach, will be watching on the monitor to make sure I am not negotiating arrangements with Independents. That is certainly above my pay grade. I take very seriously the issues raised by the Deputy. We got much work done on investment in the healthcare services in Louth. I recall visiting Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital with Deputy Fitzpatrick when I was first appointed as the Minister for Health. I remember it as a very overcrowded hospital. We have …

I will try to answer as many of the Deputy's questions as I can in the two minutes remaining. I wish to see CervicalCheck screening back as soon as possible. Obviously, that must be done in a way that is safe for staff and women. I will meet the National Screening Service again tomorrow. It is due to provide restart dates for all four screening programmes by the end of this month. The restart date and a plan for how it intends to recommence will be shared with all Deputies and, most important, service users, women …

I am aware of the fire in Letterkenny. I thank the Deputy for highlighting that it caused loss of PPE and aids and appliances that I am sure are crucial and important for many people. I will speak to the HSE directly through my Department to ensure that the equipment is replaced without any interruption to supply. I will confirm that in writing to the Deputy or ask that the HSE does so. I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of alcohol use. There has been a lot of talk about Covid-19 and it is very impo…