Healthcare staff who refuse to get vaccinated could be banned from working on the frontline, according to the Justice Minister.

Helen McEntee was speaking after the Nursing Homes Ireland CEO Tadhg Daly said he would “absolutely support” mandatory vaccination for healthcare staff.

Meanwhile, management at two Dublin nursing homes have confirmed that they organised raffles and cash prizes to encourage staff to get vaccinated – with 30 workers still refusing the jab.

On The Hard Shoulder this evening, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said workers could be banned from the frontline if they refuse to get vaccinated.

“I do think that is something that we would need to consider, yes,” she said.

“Particularly if we are seeing high numbers of frontline staff working in hospitals or in other settings refusing to take the vaccine.

“But you know, it is something that the HSE, the Department of Health and those managing our hospitals and other healthcare settings would have to look at very carefully and I am sure they would do that.

“But obviously the objective here is that people would willingly come forward to take the vaccine and I think in the majority of cases we have seen that people do want to take this vaccine, not just for themselves but for the people they are working with, they are helping and they live with in other circumstances as well.”

At the end of January, a survey carried out by Newstalk found that as many as 15% of nursing home staff may have refused the vaccine.

Out of 40 nursing homes contacted, uptake rates among staff ranged from 75% to 95% - with an average of around 85%.

37 of the homes contacted had at least one person who turned down the vaccine for personal reasons.