The visiting restrictions on nursing homes and community hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant negative effect on the psychological well-being of many residents. I fully understand the need for visiting restrictions to keep this elderly sector of our community safe during Covid but many residents have suffered psychologically. I welcome the new position where nursing home and community hospital residents can have one visit per week but it is far less than many residents would normally have. Nursing Homes Ireland has asked that when the Covid vaccine is rolled out, nursing home residents and staff should be prioritised for vaccination. They have also requested that one visitor for each resident should receive a priority vaccination to increase the number of safe visits to nursing home residents. Will the Government consider including one visitor per patient for priority vaccination?

The allocation strategy was announced by the Government today. It is clear that residents of nursing homes will be first to be vaccinated, along with the healthcare workers. That is the sequence which we propose to follow. As I said earlier in the House, there will be many different proposals from different Deputies as to who should be accommodated before somebody else. We need to go with the public health advice on this and with those who have been involved in previous immunisation campaigns to get this right for the entire population. I accept the point on how difficult it has been for all concerned during the Covid-19 pandemic.