The Dáil has been told that one nursing home has had 70 workers test positive for Covid-19 and four of its residents have died.
The claim was made by Fianna Fáil's health spokesman Stephen Donnelly this afternoon as TDs met in a controversial sitting at Leinster House.
Mr Donnelly called for more support for nursing homes.
He gave an example of one nursing home with 200 staff, saying that 70 of the staff had tested positive for coronavirus, 19 of 100 residents had tested positive and four had passed away.
Mr Donnelly said that the lack of personal protective equipment and the lack of support for care workers is very concerning.
He gave the example of a home care worker in Dublin who tested positive for Covid-19, saying this person sees around ten different elderly people every day, and every day those people change.
He said the woman lives with eight other home care workers and that it was possible that she may have infected some of the vulnerable people she looks after.
Mr Donnelly said that as of yet no home carers had been provided with PPE, that they are not getting medical training and that the Government must act more quickly on this.
Sinn Féin's health spokesperson Louise O'Reilly said PPE can and should be provided to home helps.
Ms O'Reilly said for people who are anxious about letting home carers into their house this would put their minds at ease.
She added that home help is due to be curtailed and said that the Government must tell people what would replace it.
Ms O'Reilly said every worker in the health service was on the frontline and they all need PPE to be able to do their job.
Minister for Health Simon Harris warned that the Dáil sitting ran contrary to the public health advice, which is for people to "stay at home".
The Dáil sat this afternoon following a decision of the Business Committee.
Following the meeting, the Dáil convened for statements on health and social protection related to the Covid-19 pandemic. After today's sitting, the Dáil will not reconvene for two weeks, returning on 16 April.
The committee has agreed to meet again next Monday to consider how ministers can engage in a question-and-answer session with Opposition deputies, and examine the possibility of convening in a different location other than Leinster House, in order to abide by public health best practice given Covid-19.
Speaking in the Dáil chamber, Minister Harris said the Government was providing a significant level of briefing and officials who had not seen their families in weeks have been keeping leaders up to date.
He said he understood that the work of the Dáil had to be carried out in a transparent way.
However, he said he was deeply uneasy that the Dáil was meeting today, which he said was risking public health.
Mr Harris said everyone was travelling from different households and they were not close contacts.
Opposition TDs said they supported the Dail sitting and that ministers must be held to account during the emergency.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barret said the Government should be subjected to questions in relation to the current Covid-19 emergency.
Mr Boyd Barrett said there was no reason that could not take place and he said TDs were inundated with concerns from the public.
Solidarity TD Mick Barry said the Dáil should meet next week and he said it was not non-essential work for TDs to come to the Dáil and hold ministers to account.
Green Party TD Malcolm Noonan said the pandemic had the potential to take its toll on people's mental health.
He said the pressure of a partial lockdown can be immense on households.
The co-leader of the Social Democrats, Catherine Murphy, said politicians must be able to raise concerns from the public with the Government.
She said there is an expectation from the public that TDs do that job.
Ms Murphy also said the Government needed to be honest with people when it comes to testing and what the problems were for the system.
Still under the weather so I'm staying home and taking all necessary precautions. Won't be at Dail sitting tomorrow but it's in the capable hands of team Sinn Féin
— Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) April 1, 2020
There has been widespread political unity in recent weeks on how best to fight Covid-19, but the build-up to this Dáil session has been marked by rancour and division.
The fact that there will be no vote to elect a new taoiseach, and that legislation cannot be passed due to the absence of a functioning Seanad, led to extensive consultations this week on the merits of postponing today's sitting.
Additional reporting Paul Cunningham
