Donnelly: Schools should stay open even with new restrictions  

Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly. 

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly says that he wants schools to remain open across the country even if there are new restrictions but said that he will not pre-empt any Cabinet decision on the border counties.

Mr Donnelly said that "as of right now" the plan is for schools to remain open "much to the annoyance of his children". He said that positivity rates in schools are now 1.9%, compared to over 6% in the community.

The health minister said the situation in the border counties is "a concern" but added that any decision was "an ongoing conversation with Cabinet colleagues and NPHET".

Mr Donnelly said that he hopes to see "as coordinated a response as possible" with the north, where new restrictions were announced today. He said that he would not tell people in the north not to cross the border.

"The move to Level 4 would be hugely costly to people's mental health, their isolation and the economy. It wouldn't be good for me to be thinking out loud on these things. The issues are too sensitive."

The Health budget will rise by €4 billion in 2021, to over €22 billion, including €467 million to permanently fund 2,600 acute and community beds, though Mr Donnelly has denied that these beds are "double-counted".  

Some of these beds are part of the HSE's Winter Plan, but they were only funded to the end of April. This Budget will ensure that they are part of the system on a permanent basis. I don't see how they are being double counted. We've been very clear on this.

"While those beds exist, they aren't permanent beds, they're temporary beds. They are not permanent without this Budget.

"For me it's about how many permanent beds will we have next year versus the end of this year and that figure is around 2,600."

Mr Donnelly said the plans to increase ICU capacity to 321 next year will involve the hiring of 500 additional staff.

The minister said that his "three major tasks" are to improve patient access, experience and outcome in the health service.

We've known that our bed capacity isn't where it should be. We are addressing this.

Mr Donnelly said he has been in conversation with campaigner John Wall, who expressed his disappointment that the Budget did not mention medical cards for the terminally ill. On Covid-19 testing, Mr Donnelly said he wants to see rapid testing as part of Ireland's fight against the virus.