Taoiseach says HSE did not inform him of the tracking issue

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Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that the Health Service Executive did not inform him about the decision to get some people who tested positive for Covid-19 to carry out their own contact tracing.

He told Dáil that he received a text message last night with an article from the Irish Times and that’s when he first found out.

The HSE will ask people who received a positive Covid-19 test result last weekend to notify their own close contacts.

The Taoiseach said the HSE has now “rebooted the process” and said they are handling all of yesterday’s contact tracing again as usual.

He said the HSE should be able to “reach everyone” in 24 hours.

He told Dáil that army personnel were still involved in the search for contracts.

The Taoiseach also said the idea was to create a permanent workforce in terms of contract tracking, which it said was the only way to deal with a pandemic.

He said testing and tracing was important, but it was not the main shield, and said people need to understand the importance of their own individual behaviors to stop the spread of the virus.

He was responding to Labor leader Alan Kelly, who asked the Taoiseach when he found out about the contract tracking problem.

He said we need to find out how long it takes to track down people in the community.

Deputy Kelly said it was inappropriate to text someone, who potentially has Covid-19, and expect them to communicate with people.

He said that when there was a problem like this, the last Taoiseach called the army.

Rep. Kelly asked if the tracking could be regulated and removed from the HSE and performed by a different regulatory body.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said it was hard to believe that eight months after the pandemic the test and trace system is still not adequate.

Also speaking at the Dáil, Ms McDonald said that people who have tested positive for Covid-19 are now being asked to do the work of a contact tracker and this is a recipe for infections to be missed.

Mary Lou McDonald said the bell alerting the government to this problem was sounded loudly a fortnight ago.

“Not doing this right will mean a cycle of harmful crashes,” he said.

The Taoiseach said the contact tracing system has come under extreme pressure, especially this past weekend.

Micheál Martin said the demand for tests is being met and up to 19,000 swabs are being processed on any given day.

More than 120,000 tests are carried out weekly, the Taoiseach said.

He said there are 400 people employed in contact tracing and another 220 will be hired soon and the ultimate goal is to reach about 1,000 tracers, Martin said.

He said he is not happy with what happened over the weekend, but there is not a system in the world that is not under pressure.

Co-leader of the Social Democrats Catherine Murphy said people who were asked to hire the trace were being asked to do a “DIY” and added that she was surprised that Taoiseach Micheál Martin was informed by a text message about the situation.

She said that the Taoiseach should have been continuously informed by the Minister of Health.

Ms. Murphy said she had no confidence in the recruiting company that was hiring contact trackers.

She added, “This doesn’t add up. We have to control this.”

In response, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there was “a lot of recruiting right now”.

He added: “We should have an HSE briefing on this particular situation.”

He said there was “no problem” with the government providing “funds” and resources to hire contact trackers.

Ireland is part of the EU Vaccine Agreement

Taoiseach Michael Martin has said that the government is part of the European Union’s efforts to find a vaccine for Covid-19.

He told the Dáil that Ireland was involved in an EU pre-purchase acquisition deal.

Mr Martin said that the EU is currently exploring additional options with additional vaccine manufacturers.

He said they were safe, affordable and effective vaccines.

However, he cautioned that a vaccine alone is not a panacea and there will be challenges when it arrives, he said.

The Taoiseach said that the pharmaceutical research and development company APC here in Ireland has developed a manufacturing technology.

He said the company was being supported by Enterprise Ireland, so if a vaccine is found, they will be able to help with global manufacturing.

He was responding to the independent TD Cathal Berry, who asked where Ireland stands in relation to supporting efforts to find a vaccine.

MP Berry asked if the Irish pharmaceutical industry was participating in the efforts to find a vaccine.

Additional information Mícheál Lehane, David Murphy



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