This evening, more than 3,700 cases are going to be announced. We have hospitals that are getting fuller with Covid patients. As a result of this, and a result of people-----

-----having to go into intensive care units, elective surgery for other men, women and children is being cancelled. The situation right now is serious. When I introduced this legislation some time ago, many in the Opposition asked that the rolling nature of the extensions be changed. I introduced a substantial amendment having listened very carefully to their contributions. I introduced a substantial amendment to allow for just one roll-over. This is it. Sinn Féin and some others in the Opposition, having secured t…

-----all the Government is asking-----

Could I take a little more time because there were many interruptions?

There were not. I cannot interrupt while I am speaking.

All we are asking for is agreement to roll these regulations over for three months, after which new legislation will be required, to protect our healthcare system, men, women and children who are vulnerable to this virus, and our healthcare workers.

It is.

I move: That Dáil Éireann resolves that the Criminal Justice (Enforcement Powers) (Covid-19) Act 2020 (No. 14 of 2020) shall continue in operation for the period beginning on the 10th day of November, 2021 and ending on the 9th day of February, 2022.

I move: That Dáil Éireann resolves that the Health (Amendment) Act 2020 (No. 19 of 2020) shall continue in operation for the period beginning on the 10th day of November, 2021 and ending on the 9th day of February, 2022.

I very much welcome the opportunity to address the House on the motion. I thank the Deputies for tabling the motion, which the Government will not oppose. I would like to take this opportunity, as I am sure we all do, to thank nurses and midwives, including students, and all healthcare workers for their ongoing dedication, commitment and professionalism as we continue to deal with Covid-19. I meet many nurses, midwives and students, and many other healthcare workers throughout our healthcare system, on a regular ba…

Hear, hear.

Printed copies of my speech will be ready shortly. They are on their way over. It is hard to believe that it has been 607 days since the first case of Covid-19 was detected in Ireland. Little did we know what was ahead of us - a pandemic that upended our lives and changed the way we lived, worked and socialised. This disease has shattered lives. It has taken well over 5,000 of our loved ones from us. It has caused great fear, frustration and disruption. In healthcare, it has taken a very deep toll. Our healthcare w…

I thank the Deputies for contributing to this important debate this evening. I welcome the opportunity to hear from colleagues as to what is and is not working, and where more needs to be done. I will begin with the excellent contribution from Deputy Connolly. Some of the points she raised have also be raised by other Deputies this evening. Deputy Connolly referred to people who have chosen not to be vaccinated. She quite rightly said that this is voluntary and people must have a choice, which is true. However, man…

I thank Members for the opportunity to meet with them this evening. We are here to discuss what I believe is one of the most important projects of our time, which is to make universal healthcare a reality in our country and to have a public healthcare system that provides girls and boys, women and men, with great healthcare when they need it. We allocate a great deal of money to healthcare. We have incredible healthcare workers doing extraordinary work every day. We have wide political agreement that universal heal…

There are 760,394 patients on acute hospital inpatient day case, outpatient and gastrointestinal scope waiting lists, as published by the NTPF. I recognise that a higher figure of more than 900,000 is regularly used and it is important to note that this figure includes just under 150,000 patients who already have scheduled care. The NTPF figure we should be most concerned with is the 760,394 patients. The Deputy asked what there is on top of that. With regard to the number of patients waiting for diagnostics, it sh…

The waiting times for children with scoliosis are not acceptable and they have to be brought down. One of the first places I went when I was appointed as Minister was Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin and I met the orthopaedics team there for exactly this reason. Good efforts have been made and an additional consultant is in place. Things have been greatly exacerbated by Covid, as we know, and by the cyberattack but we cannot let that stop the progress that has to be made. I am working closely with the HSE …

I share the Deputy's concern. I had a long call last week with a parent of one kid with serious complications. What the children are going through is unimaginable, as is what the parents are going through as a result. I have told the parents that we will sort this out. We are working directly with CHI to understand exactly what the bottlenecks are. Some of this can be solved through resourcing. We have some fantastic surgeons in this country and we have to make sure they have the operating theatre time they need an…

I thank the Deputy for his question. As he mentioned, emergency department attendances have reached 2019 levels and exceeded them in some places. In 2019, 1.34 million people attended emergency departments and approximately 350,000 of them were admitted. I acknowledge the work of our front-line staff in keeping the emergency departments open throughout the pandemic. Our figures for attendances underestimate the seriousness of the situation. Not only are attendances at 2019 levels, but many of the people attending a…

I agree with the Deputy's comments on out-of-hours GP services. As part of winter planning and in the spirit of doing everything we can to help keep people out of hospitals, specifically emergency departments, that is an area that we are examining. The next parliamentary question deals with chronic disease management in the community. I disagree with the Deputy that not a lot is being done. A significant amount of work is being done and there has been a lot of progress in that area, which we will get into in more d…

In terms of capacity and revenue funding, this year has seen a record deployment in that regard. There is revenue available and there is capital available. I can assure the Deputy of that. However, capital applications are not only about new beds. New diagnostics, new operating theatres and new triage rooms have to be looked at and that is happening. Where capital funding is required, it will be provided. The tighter constraint is staff. There is no point putting the beds in place unless we have the staff. There wa…