Paul Murphy demands action on workplace ventilation after stalled bill
Paul Murphy called for urgent government action on workplace ventilation and filtration, saying it has been five months since his workplace ventilation Covid-19 bill passed second stage and the Government has not delivered on meetings or messaging. He criticised the absence of regulation or clear public guidance and urged use of the Covid oversight group and expert advice to protect workplaces, schools and public facilities.
Bill progress and government response
The bill passed second stage unanimously five months earlier and the Government did not oppose it, Murphy said. He reported that the Minister of State told the Dáil the Government supported the bill’s objectives but has not followed up with the promised meeting or further action.
Calls for regulations and public guidance
Murphy argued the Government could establish clean air quality standards by regulation but has failed to do so, and said simple information campaigns on ventilation and filtration should be promoted to businesses, schools and colleges. He urged that, even without new legislation, stronger messaging and guidance on ventilation and masks are needed.
Public health risk and mitigation priorities
Murphy stressed that Covid-19 remains present and deadly and that masks together with ventilation and filtration are the clearest scientific responses to limit spread and disruption. He warned of increased respiratory virus risks in the autumn and winter when people spend more time indoors.
Oversight group and need for expertise
The Government has appointed John Wenger to the Covid oversight group to raise the profile of ventilation, Murphy noted, and he called for a multidisciplinary approach to review optimal ventilation measures for business, employment settings and state facilities. He said the group should return recommendations to government ahead of the next high-risk season.
Debate on technical measures and HEPA filters
Murphy acknowledged debate over technical fixes, noting HEPA filters were initially touted as a key solution but have since been questioned on effectiveness. He emphasised the need for further expert assessment of ventilation and filtration options for schools and public buildings before broad implementation.
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It is now five months since our workplace ventilation Covid-19 bill passed second stage unanimously. The Government did not oppose the bill. The Minister of State or the Department of Finance, Damien English, said in the debate that the Government supports the objectives of the bill. I assure the Deputy that my officials and I will work with him to determine the best approach to achieve these objectives. In the course of the debate, he said that officials from the Health and Safety Authority and his department would like the opportunity to meet with me before committee stage and said he would call me that afternoon, still waiting for the phone call, still waiting. Damien English, still waiting for the meeting, regardless of the bill, because we do not need to pass that bill to do it. The Government could do it by regulations. We would be happy for the Government to do it by regulations in terms of establishing clean air quality standards. But even short of regulations in terms of information, why is the Government not promoting ventilation and filtration to businesses, to schools, to colleges and so on? Well, Covid is still with us. It is still killing people. We need to do everything that we can to be as safe as possible, to have as little disruption to our society as possible. The most obvious, most scientifically clear thing to do in that is masks on the one hand and on the other hand is ventilation and filtration. Why is there no government messaging around those key issues? In terms of Deputy Murphy's point, we have in the Covid oversight group appointed John Wenger to that group with a view to giving a higher profile to ventilation in respect of the ongoing challenge of Covid-19. I accept Covid-19 hasn't gone away and I think we do need to take this opportunity now to see what is the optimal way, both in the business sector and employment, but also in schools and in state public facilities, in terms of the value of ventilation in terms of combating Covid-19 and perhaps other infectious diseases as well. I will talk to Minister Damien English in terms of the legislation that you have produced, but the idea of the Covid oversight group that we have established was to give a more multidisciplinary approach to the next phase of Covid-19. Particularly, I think one of our challenges could be next autumn and winter period because I think the coronaviruses tend to become worse during the winter period because we are more indoor here. I am very anxious that the new oversight group would look at that and come back to government with recommendations in respect of that. I think that is one additional element we can perhaps do better on in respect of the next phase, although the expertise will be particularly important because some people, for example, if you recall, the HEPA filters were identified as the sort of the holy grail, if you like, in terms of what could be done in schools. But then others will say that they are not necessarily as effective as we might have thought. So I do think we need a bit more expertise in relation to the ventilation issue in public facilities and in relation to schools also. And so I talked to Minister Damien English in that regard. I'm not sure. I think within existing health and safety regulations, there should be provisions for regulations. But again, I'll see in terms of your legislation. In terms of your legislation. Yeah,ní guys. Thank you. And now people are going up to be this candidates. We traditionally 하지 a way to pain in terms of爷爷 and theulu records. I think that is also one of the areas that the government is going to do.
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