Mayo Oireachtas member acknowledges 'huge burden' on Minister for Health

A Mayo Oireachtas member said there is a limit to what the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly can deal with on an ongoing basis.

Senator Lisa Chambers said placing quarantining on top of a workload which includes Covid-19, vaccines 'and everything in between' is 'a huge burden - not just on the minister but on the team and the department'.

The Mayo representative continued: "The minister is as entitled as any member of government to get some sleep and have a day off, but I am sure he has not had a day off since he took up this brief.

"The incredible level of work the minister is putting into his job must be acknowledged.

"Few sitting around the cabinet table are putting in the hours he is putting into the job and that must be acknowledged.

"We are quick to lay blame when mistakes are made but we are all human.

"There is a limit to what one person can do and can take. Many Oireachtas members have not acknowledged the level of work placed on the Department of Health, at what is probably the most difficult time in its history.

"There is much work there. That should be acknowledged and the minister and his team should be commend on all the work they are doing."