Special road permits needed for health workers
Labour Party TD for Dublin Fingal, has reiterated his call for healthcare workers to receive priority treatment on our roads.
Deputy Smith said:
“When the Gardaí initially launched Operation Fanacht, I called on the Government to provide special permits for healthcare workers so they wouldn’t get caught up in the traffic associated with Garda check points.
“We know from evidence provided by the National Public Health Emergency Team that there has been an increase in activity on our roads in the last week and we have seen anecdotal evidence from frontline healthcare staff that queues from checkpoints are getting longer and longer causing delays getting to and from work.
“While obviously increasing Garda check points on our roads is an element of the State’s response against the further spread of Covid-19, we need to have a smart response to ensuring frontline health staff get to where they need to be in a timely manner.
“I am once again calling on the Ministers for Transport and Health to come together to grant HSE frontline staff who are driving to and from their place of work special road permits that allow them through the increased road checks seamlessly.
“Our healthcare heroes are stressed enough, we need to make sure that they can get to and from work with as little getting in their way as possible.”