Wexford has several of the finest nursing homes in the country. One is Knockeen nursing home run by Mary and Nicola Doran who are renowned for providing the highest standard of care to their residents. Unfortunately, Nicola Doran found she had to speak out in the Wexford People this week. The headline of the newspaper stated that testing at nursing homes was a "farce". Testing took place at Knockeen nursing home on 24 April and it waited 13 days on the test results. In a bizarre twist, on 29 March, a member of staf…

I do not agree with the Taoiseach's last statement. In fact, the two are intrinsically linked. Testing, tracing and isolating are the only things that will see the country open up in such a way that it will not have to close down again because we do not have a testing system. I again ask the Taoiseach to ask the HSE to produce a roadmap that underpins the Government's roadmap in the way in which I have suggested, that is, that we set and define targets that we can reach through testing, tracing and isolating. The T…

I again ask the Taoiseach to look into whether we are utilising all our laboratory capacity and whether there are any prohibitions on testing. If testing is turned around within 24 to 48 hours, it gives us a much better chance with the contact tracing and isolating model.

I appreciate that. I have many people contacting me saying they have never been contacted but were clearly in contact with people who had not only been tested but tested positive. In addition, there is a newspaper report today that says we are only using 2% of the people who were employed to do contact tracing. That is very worrying and, again, it needs to be looked at. After all, I think we are all well aware that politicians make the decisions based on the medical advice. That is all I am saying. In order to get …

In recent weeks I have been contacted by numerous students and parents about non-reimbursement of fees paid for unused student accommodation. This has been mentioned previously. Universities and large private accommodation operators differ greatly in their approaches to handling student accommodation refunds. It is interesting to note that UCC students are in the fortunate position to have received confirmation that they will receive a pro rata refund of their accommodation fees while students at the University of …

If the Minister runs out of time, some of my questions may require written replies, which I would appreciate.

I concur with all of my colleagues on the aforementioned in that we do have to have accountability. There are many issues on which we would like answers through a question and answer session. Yesterday I partook in a HSE briefing that lasted for two hours. In the first 45 minutes, only two Deputies had asked questions. It is not acceptable and I would prefer to see the Dáil sitting, showing the people that we are able to practise what many of our front-line staff have to practise on a daily basis. The recommendatio…

I give my best wishes to Dr. Tony Holohan for his own health and all those who suffer from the coronavirus. I pay my condolences to those who have passed away as a result of the virus. I pay tribute to the front-line staff in hospitals and throughout our medical services as well as to those front-line staff who are not so recognisable in our pharmacies, supermarkets, at checkouts and those in the supply chain - in factories, drivers making deliveries, farmers and fishermen - for continuing to supply the food we eat…

I would like to start my maiden speech by thanking most sincerely the people of Wexford, 11,849 of whom voted for me, first preference or otherwise. I thank my campaign team and express the admiration I have for each and every one of them. They came out to canvass in their hundreds, in most cases after a long day's work, which was a big honour for me. I hope the attainment of a seat in the Thirty-third Dáil is in turn testament to their hard work and belief in me. Being elected by the people of Wexford as the first…

I have one final paragraph. All of this was happening without resolve and then the coronavirus hit. What can we do? What can the Government do? It can take the lead. We must display truth and transparency in how this process will work. Are we prepared - yes or no? As leaders, the burden is on those in government to make clear decisions to close schools and cancel mass gatherings. It should not assume that its message is being heard. I have one question for the Minister.

In the event that any of the main parties, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, the Green Party or Sinn Féin, can agree a formation of Government, would all have to convene a special delegate conference to allow members approve a programme for Government?

Has due consideration been given to a contingency plan-----

-----so as not to give the country the excuse of the coronavirus as an excuse for forming the Government?