I am happy to talk to the Deputy about that at a later date.

I thank Deputies for raising this important issue in this motion. The Government will not be opposing it. I hope to address the various points raised in the motion and to outline the huge amount of work done so far to make this hospital a reality. All four stand-alone maternity hospitals, while they have incredible staff and provide a superb service, are now outdated. The buildings do not cater for the needs of modern maternity care. Today’s debate specifically concerns the National Maternity Hospital, NMH, current…

These are essentially equivalent amendments throughout the Bill. To put these amendments in context, I received communication from the health committee expressing its serious concern about the Bill, as initiated, whereby a sunset clause of up to 12 weeks could be rolled over indefinitely pending a vote of both Houses. There was also a constructive and productive debate in the Seanad. On the back of that debate, as colleagues will recall, I undertook to seek the Government's approval to substantially amend the Bill.…

They fundamentally do not believe that there should be any public health measures in place. They believe that the civil liberty argument takes total precedence over the right to safety, human life, human health, etc. That is their position and for them to vote against the Bill is therefore rational. I utterly disagree with that view but at least if one holds that view and votes against this Bill, that is a rational vote based on the fact that one believes that freedom is more important than life, and that is fine. …

There is.

We are here to amend the Bill.

My understanding was that I had 15 minutes. Would it be possible to check that?

Is the Acting Chairman sure?

Okay. I thank Deputy Connolly for tabling the motion on maternity care. The Government will be supporting the motion. Women’s healthcare has never been prioritised as it should be in this country. It has never been invested in as it must be. Our maternity hospitals are not fit for purpose. We are reported as having the lowest rate of breastfeeding in Europe. There is insufficient choice for pregnant women in terms of midwifery-led care, community-based care and birthing options. Mental health supports are insuffici…

I am very happy to respond if the Chair permits.

I would very much like to take these amendments one by one and go through them like we did on Second Stage and in the Seanad as well.

I propose the continuation into force of the Health (Amendment) Act 2021 to 31 July 2021. To remind the House, this Act provides for the mandatory quarantine in designated facilities of persons coming into the State from certain areas. Commonly referred to as mandatory hotel quarantine, it has been operational since 26 March 2021. It has been an important part of the public health measures to combat the transmission of Covid-19, in particular variants of concern. The Act contains a sunset clause in section 9 and, u…

I had some closing remarks but instead I might address the points raised. I ask Members to bear with me as I go back and forward through some of the technical notes. I will start with the appeals process and exemptions. There were quite a few questions about that. The exemptions that were in the Act are as follows: those holding an annexe 3 certificate, that is those ensuring the availability of goods and essential services; those arriving in the State who are heavy goods vehicle drivers, airline pilots, air crew a…

It is being looked at. I beg the Senator's pardon.

With unaccompanied minors, there are two possibilities. The first is that they go into the care of Tusla. Tusla then carries that out and it is the correct agency to do that. Alternatively, if the minor has somewhere safe to go in Ireland, he or she can go to that place and be quarantined in that place. I will finish by reiterating that nobody wants hotel quarantine. My understanding is there are very limited situations in which any of us can be deprived of our liberty, and rightly so. One is a custodial sentence, …

I thank the Seanad for the opportunity to update it on the Covid-19 vaccination programme. The programme has continued uninterrupted since our last session despite the cyberattack on both the HSE and the Department of Health, although this criminal attack on our IT systems has had an impact on the programme as the validation of data and daily reporting of vaccination figures have not been possible. Ireland's vaccination programme represents one of the greatest public health and logistical challenges our health serv…

I thank the Members for their contributions and ideas, and their appreciation of the massive national effort. All Members of the Oireachtas owe a debt of gratitude to workers throughout the country for the phenomenal work that has been done. Many very important topics were covered and I will not be able to deal with all of them in the time available, so I will respond to those that were raised most often. First, to respond to the last speaker, God almighty, I hope our best days are not behind all of us, although pe…

As regards cohort 7, there was a question about whether we need better patient records. We do, absolutely. This was shown clearly for cohorts 4 and 7 in particular. It is a priority and this week we plan to vaccinate approximately 30,000 people in that cohort. I will make two final comments.

That is not one of the two. I am sorry, but I will give the Senator the figures afterwards. I have very good news about pharmacies. The role of pharmacies and pharmacists is something I have been pushing from day one. I have engaged with the HSE every week about it. Pharmacists will be playing a role very soon, in early June. That is the update as of a few hours ago. Where that is particularly important is in some of the areas that are further from the vaccination centres. That is some very good news. Finally, I wi…

I welcome the opportunity to update the House on our Covid-19 vaccination programme. The programme has continued uninterrupted since our last session despite the cyberattack on both the HSE and the Department of Health, although this criminal attack on our IT systems has had an impact on the programme, as the validation of data and daily reporting of vaccination figures have not been possible. Ireland's vaccination programme represents one of the greatest public health and logistical challenges that our health serv…