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Health Minister Stephen Donnelly Sam Boal

No current plans for NPHET to be disbanded, says Donnelly

The Health Minister said that the Government is currently looking at a medium-term strategy for current Covid-19 protections, like vaccines and testing.

THERE ARE CURRENTLY no plans within Government to disband the National Public Health Emergency Team, says Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.

Speaking to RTÉ’s This Week, Donnelly said that despite the removal of almost all Covid-19 restrictions from 6am yesterday, there are currently no “detailed” plans to begin disbanding the public health team.

“There’s no detailed plans on that at all, NPHET are doing a very important job,” said Donnelly.

NPHET most recently met last Thursday to discuss the easing of restrictions, with Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan writing in a letter to Donnelly that there was no longer a public health rationale for a majority of restrictions.

This advice then paved the way for the Government to remove almost all Covid-19 restrictions, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin making the announcement on Friday.

According to Donnelly, the government will continue to receive advice from NPHET, with it set to meet in three weeks time to discuss masks in schools.

Donnelly added that the Government is currently looking at a medium-term strategy for current Covid-19 protections, like vaccines and testing.

When asked about plans to wind down the testing and tracing infrastructure, Donnelly said it is currently being discussed within the Department of Health, but that it will continue to be in place while the benefit is there

He said that when there are high volumes of cases, the public health value of testing goes down as it’s primary function is to try and stop transmission, but that it has been helpful to confirm cases for people to ensure that they isolate.

“We have a very large testing and tracing system in place. Between PCR testing and rapid testing, the HSE per week now is sending out about 1.8 million tests,” said Donnelly.

“They’re doing about 300,000 PCR tests and sending out about 1.5 million antigen tests, so it is very expensive.

“It is something we will continue to do so long as the benefit is there,” he added.

Vaccine waste

When asked about reports of over 500,000 vaccines set to expire in the coming weeks, Donnelly said that it would not be possible to donate them due to them being taken out of the freezer.

“They can’t be donated. The reason they go out of date, so to speak, is it’s the time that they’ve been taken out of the freezer,” he said.

Donnelly said that there were enough vaccines available to ensure that people could access a booster, but due to the rise in cases due to Omicron, those who were infected were unable to get a booster.

On low booster takeup in younger cohorts, Donnelly said that he was not concerned as this was due to a high level of Covid-19 infection among younger people in recent weeks.

“The estimate is that 70% to 80% of that group from 18 to 40 have boosted immunity,” said Donnelly, due to either having received a booster vaccine or having a recent Covid-19 infection.

Currently, anyone who has had a Covid-19 infection within the last three months is not eligible to receive a booster dose.

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    Mute Rob
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    Nov 5th 2020, 1:38 AM

    All this does means is that in 30yrs we have to go through all this again. It’s time the air was cleared, no more secrets.

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    Mute Côte D’oherty
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    Nov 5th 2020, 12:17 AM

    The Catholic Church is one of the most despicable institutions that has ever been imposed on us. Shame on whoever facilitated they’re reign of terror

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    Mute Côte D’oherty
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    Nov 5th 2020, 12:18 AM

    @Côte D’oherty: their *

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    Mute Tony Harris
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    Nov 5th 2020, 12:45 AM

    @Côte D’oherty: “we” facilitated it. They weren’t the Stasi, they weren’t the Gestapo, we flocked to them in our millions.

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    Mute Côte D’oherty
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    Nov 5th 2020, 1:07 AM

    @Tony Harris: agreed

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    Mute Trevor Donoghue
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    Nov 5th 2020, 4:37 AM

    @Tony Harris: Back then they were not the stasi or the gestapo, they were worse , The people feared the Stasi and gestapo because they were all afraid of them, they knew exactly what monsters they were and they would take your lives. The Church did worse because they were doing unspeakable evil disguised as God’s good work and people were good catholics, and we did not facilitate it, we were trying to save our very souls, not simply our lives. And you did not ever go against the church back then if you even wanted a life, or a job, or even to be part of the community you lived it. And the Church still need a long, long way to go to pay for the evil they have done.

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    Mute Tony Doran
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    Nov 5th 2020, 7:45 AM

    @Trevor Donoghue: Well said. People need to wake up and realise how oppressive it was for the Irish people living under those conditions, fearing the church and having to get in line, be good little Catholics or else!

    56
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    Mute ÓDuibhír Abú
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    Nov 5th 2020, 8:02 AM

    @Tony Harris: From the; Cradle to the Grave, the Roman Church Brain washed people.

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    Mute ÓDuibhír Abú
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    Nov 5th 2020, 8:05 AM

    @Tony Harris: When I look back, and Remember Grown Men, Elected Representatives of Dáil Éireann, bending down on their; Knee Kissing the Hand Of the Bishops.

    44
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    Mute Justin Gillespie
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    Nov 5th 2020, 9:13 AM

    @ÓDuibhír Abú: This is what happens when anyone gets unchecked power over someone else. What happened in church & state run institution’s was criminal & shameful & it need to be exposed but don’t think for one minute that abuse nó longer takes place.
    What goes on behind closed doors is equally horrific, the numbers of calls to Childline support this, & we need to beef up ways of allowing victims to reach out for help.

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    Mute ÓDuibhír Abú
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    Nov 5th 2020, 1:09 PM

    @Justin Gillespie: Difference is; an Organization claiming to be representatives of God on earth. Claiming to be protectors of the; Faith, but have destroyed it by their; Ungodly actions.

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    Mute paul mccoy
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    Nov 5th 2020, 12:55 AM

    Typical of this government. Bury it and it’s like it never happened so we don’t have to answer any nasty questions from the public.

    117
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    Mute Bull McCabe
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    Nov 5th 2020, 12:17 AM

    Is there anything to be said to have another tribunal? That way it can be fully investigated and nobody will be prosecuted!

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    Mute Mary Nugent
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    Nov 5th 2020, 7:42 AM

    Shame of a Nation the land of sorrows.

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    Mute Gerry Ryan
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    Nov 5th 2020, 9:01 AM

    So Fine Gael have given the ok for comments

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    Mute Rathminder
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    Nov 5th 2020, 9:19 AM

    I have no connection to the homes but think the idea of a records centre on the site of the Magdalene Laundry is fitting. It could include a library of the books and documents written documenting the history which saw the Irish government’s pattern of discarding any responsibility for the unfortunate. It is fitting for the site, much as the work houses turned into museums. The survivors must have a say in this, however.

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    Mute Celtic Spirit
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    Nov 5th 2020, 9:18 AM

    Bye bye Catholic church. And not before time. An absolute dispicable, vile cult that were given control over our country after independence. From the British Empire to the Holy Roman Empire of the Vatican.

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    Mute Brendan Greene
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    Nov 5th 2020, 10:01 AM

    @Celtic Spirit: it is very naive to imagine that these abuses are in some way related to Catholicism specifically rather than human nature. We now know that similar things occurred all over the world in settings that were entirely secular. All societies like scapegoats to avoid acknowledging our complicity in what happened.

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    Mute Celtic Spirit
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    Nov 5th 2020, 1:04 PM

    @Brendan Greene: I wouldn’t agree with what you’ve said. The Catholic church as an institution were given free reign to do as they pleased without any retribution for their actions. They rules this country with an iron fist. People were conditioned plain and simple. The Irish people were too afraid to question the church in case they went to hell. That is the mark of a cult. Some of the victims then went on to abuse others making their victims secondary or proxy victims of the church.

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    Mute Rob Duggan
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    Nov 5th 2020, 9:16 AM

    People and the state failed we still do. We used to blame the brits, now we project blame to the church. Families shunned their daughters. Aethiest regimes are as brutal as those led by a theocracy(ccp/ussr etc) . We need to look at the ugly truth of our own human behavior and rule of law.

    24
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