People 'fed up' with 'half-baked' Covid restrictions, says McDonald
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald.
The Government's mandatory quarantine system is a "half-measure" which won't work, the Sinn Féin leader has said.
Mary Lou McDonald told the Dáil during Leaders' Questions that people are "at the end of their tether" and asked the Taoiseach for clarity on when "we can get out from under this".
Ms McDonald accused the Government of mixed messages and said the Covid response was "failing and stuttering".
She said the quarantine system, which goes live on Friday, was "half-baked" and would not work because there are only 33 countries on the list.
"After three months of living under level 5 restrictions — our third lockdown of this pandemic — people are understandably fed up and many of them are angry and frustrated," Ms McDonald said.
"Thousands have not seen a day's work in a year.
"It is fair to say that people have made huge sacrifices to suppress the virus following the dangerous position we found ourselves in after Christmas.
"However, infection rates remain very high. Nphet has warned that we are in a very 'volatile and precarious' position.
"People are now anxious about the possibility of a fourth wave. They are worried about the prospect of a lost summer after months of slogging it out with this virus."
In response, Micheál Martin said the new variants of the virus were "essentially a new virus" and said that while much work was being done, it had to continue.
"The numbers are still relatively high compared to the first and second waves," he said.
"The fundamental reason for that is we are dealing with a variant that is highly transmissible and more dangerous. That is the context.
"We have been very clear that increased mobility can be a factor in facilitating the spread of the variant. That is why we are currently in level 5.
"I have been very consistent in saying publicly and in every forum that no decision has been made on the post-5 April situation. We will be engaging with the public health advice and other research regarding this."
Rural independent TD Noel Grealish asked for a task force aimed at getting health services back to maximum capacity.
He said there are 900,000 people on waiting lists, a rise of 12% over the last year. He said 600,000 people are waiting on their first appointment, with 280,000 waiting for over 12 months.
Mr Grealish said what was already a crisis in the health service was turning into a disaster.
In response, the Taoiseach said the backlog in cancer care was being addressed and added that GP referrals for the first 10 weeks of this year were 110% of that seen last year.
He said the Government had invested in the procurement of 2,600 new hospital beds but said the pandemic had caused major delays to some treatments.
Mr Martin said that overall surgeries in 2020 were just 77% of 2019 levels, with chemotherapy at 88% and radiotherapy at over 90%.
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