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A new medium-term government plan to deal with Covid-19 will be presented on September 14, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan told Dáil.
The Green Party leader said the plan is “as important as if not more important than the budget in my opinion.” He said they had to prepare for the next six, 12, 18 months of the pandemic while defending the government’s approach to testing and tracing the coronavirus, amid concerns about the growing number of cases of the disease.
Part of the plan will include international travel and he said they were looking at international experience where they had trial arrangements that “may allow us to waive the 14-day travel restriction requirement” when someone enters the state.
Ryan was responding to the joint leader of the Social Democrats Róisín Shortall, who accused the government of “not doing its part” as the public was giving up much of “normal life” and the business community was “paying a huge price” due to the pandemic.
He said an effective testing and tracing system for proper controls at airports and ports could not be guaranteed and that the government’s response had been “totally inadequate.”
The Dublin North-West TD had also failed to provide open data and information, and despite the test, trace and isolation policy, she did not believe that the State had the stated capacity for 100,000 tests per week. “That has never been achieved.”
The government “must be open to the public because you have to keep the public with you. The actions being taken at the moment are simply not understandable because they are not backed by any kind of data. “
The Minister for Climate Action, Communications Networks and Transport, Eamon Ryan, arrives for a cabinet meeting at Dublin Castle. Photography: Dara Mac Donaill
Audiology staff and other key services were being reassigned to shore up the test and trace system, but she asked “when are we going to have an effective trace and test system. When are we going to have the proper controls in relation to international travel? ”.
Testing and tracing
Insisting that the government is acting consistently, Ryan said he is confident that the HSE is administering and has the capacity in the testing and tracing regime.
He said 58,000 tests were carried out last week targeting primarily key areas, such as nursing homes and meat plants. There were 200 contact tracing employees, and the response time for testing was reduced to 2.2 days.
Ryan added that “to date, the level of virus from travel is very low.”
He said that the Government has to start preparing for the next six, nine and 18 months.
Aviation and international travel were part of protecting livelihoods and “we need connectivity”.
He recognized the need for openness and transparency in all the figures but care had to be taken that with total openness and transparency in the figures there could be “stigmatization of certain communities where it could exist.”
But Ms Shortall said that “these lines are being raised” by everyone in the government, but they did not stand up to scrutiny.
He said that last week 57 percent of the total capacity was used in the tests and “this is the highest percentage ever used. So where is this 100 percent? “
The minister told him that the priority is to make sure that the medium-term plan is fit for purpose because “the way we handle it will allow us to return to a normal life.”
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe added on Thursday that the government was having strategic discussions on how the economy can deal with the pandemic. Among the topics of discussion is the possible reopening of “wet pubs” that do not serve food, he told News at One on RTÉ radio.
Mr. Donohoe said he was well aware that many small business owners, such as bars, are currently unable to reopen their businesses. For now the regulations are very clear, he said.
“We are doing all of this in the interest of public health.”
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