Relaxation of Restrictions, Part XII *Read OP For Mod Warnings*

Could be a stricter lock down, more than likely will be here in a week or so.

I heard they're putting 5g receptors in the masks in california now too. Wont be long till bill and his pizzagate buddies have complete control.

That shouldn't surprise anyone at this stage. This will definitely kill the vaccination program. Why get them if they still intend to keep us in eternal lockdown?

Increasing ICU capacity.

https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/ffd3f-minister-for-health-announces-plan-to-expand-critical-care-capacity-to-446-beds/

As I said, it takes a long time, hence why the above is a MULTI-YEAR plan. In the meantime, we need to have a short term plan. How hard is it to get that through your skull?

Now, can we put to bed this claim that the current government have done nothing to address ICU capacity? They have started worked on multi-year plans to expand capacity, which take time for the reasons I've already addressed. While that plan is executed, we need to manage with what the system currently can handle.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. It's a solution for the term of the "public health emergency" that is the Covid-19 pandemic.

Longer-term it's definitely not a solution. Only a complete gutting of HSE management will suffice for that.

Ah right yes, that's fair enough, my point was around people who say that we should have added a lot of permanent new capacity to the health system by now (ie. from last year to now), which takes longer than that to put in place unfortunately.

Your point is inane, you seem to think you are the only person who knows that building ICU capacity is hard, as if it is some big secret you have figured out. I'm starting to believe you are indeed young, its very much a pretentious student attitude.

What the adults know is that we have been here before and take what the HSE says with a pinch of salt. For example, you linked to the plan to expand critical care capacity, can you not see from that link that we have already failed to meet the phase one target of 321 beds by the end of 2021? (We had 301 at the end of November, maybe they added 20 in December, if so I will retract).

Adults look at the slaintecare debacle, the childrens hospital debacle, the broken promises of the past and the fact that we now have to go into lockdown yet again and so the obvious is not to clap on our balcony like a moron, it is to say "Yeah, we know its hard, but we are sick of this HSE bullshit, show us some real institutional change that gives us hope that we don't have to go through this ever again".

Maybe in about 20 years you will be having this same conversation with another kid who is only seeing it for the first time.

Well one last hooray for 2021.....

Not going to hold back, so found something to make the night unforgettable.....😁

and might not be well in the morning I'd say, but as its the last After 8 party I think it will be worth it to push the boat out a bit.....

Its not about countering anything, and its not moving the goalposts to state that they have already missed the first target they set which doesn't inspire confidence that they will meet the longer term targets.

My point was always that we need to see institutional change in the HSE, search that word and you will a long post from me yesterday saying exactly that.

We are facing into another lockdown, less than 2 years after the first and for exactly the same reason. You might be happy to shrug your shoulders and be happy that they are doing their best, but I for one expect better than that.

What way of "Dealing with" do you seek ?

There are a multitude of things in our World which are not "Right",with Covid vaccine availability being way down any meaningful list.

I see nothing "wrong" with a 5 year old Irish child receiving a Jab whilst an African does'nt.

So keeping it as simple as you wish,it's a YES.

As for the supposed inequity in this,I would direct you to the Irish Overseas Aid Budget for 2020 (Not the best of years round these parts ) which stood at €867.5 Million spent.

https://www.irishaid.ie/what-we-do/how-our-aid-works/where-the-money-goes/

For a small,some would say,still developing country on the periphery of Europe,Ireland's Taxpayers more than accquit themselves in aiding a wide selection of African countries....

So,to reiterate for clarity,given that EVERY Irish taxpayer already has a direct input into both targeted Covid-19 stuff,in addition to the usual long running relief programmes I see nothing wrong with Ireland then concentrating on at least those already resident on our Island before rushing to flog ourselves over a far away continent,many of whose inhabitants will have NOTHING to do with any form of 21st century medicines of even the most basic forms.

Reality may often be sad and distasteful....but,it remains Reality.

True. I don't like when people have too much of an Irishcentric view on things but it's true, the arguments seem to change when there's normality and the same people defending Government will defend them when they are the most conservative when it comes to unwinding restrictions.

TBH, it's our ingrained personality traits that cause us to be on one side of the fence or the other, the best thing we can do is have a reasoned debate and hope that we get as close to the truth as possible.

In this present moment, there seems to be no way that you can remain open given the uncertainty surrounding Omicron, there's just too much at stake and too short a time to mull over and dissect the morality of deciding to live truly with Covid but EVENTUALLY we will have to come to that point because no matter how improved our ICU capacity becomes or what HSE reforms are brought in to improve efficiency, we will never get out of this because we will never have enough capacity to deal with the numbers of infections That might still happen but we can't bank on it. I will be very interested to see when the west faces the full economic brunt of these continued lockdowns because you can be sure if was higher earners being affected there would be much more of a status quo pushback against restrictions. This will eventually happen; the services sector is too important both from a societal and economic standpoint. We have seen the phenomenon in China where young people decide to 'lay flat', what happens when young people decide to exit service based positions because what's the point?

What in the name of christ are you talking about? I haven't moved any goalposts in the slightest, I am showing you that the HSE is not culpable for these new measures as other health systems are having to do the same thing.

Goalpost moving means that you make one point, get proven wrong, then change to a tangential point. You claimed that the HSE is at fault for us staring into another lockdown, and I used other countries in Europe being forced to take the same measures as a counter. That is not goalpost moving. I'm going to stop wasting my time with this discussion as it is going absolutely nowhere.