Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 September 2022
266. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health if a response will issue to a matter raised in correspondence by a person (details supplied) in respect of calls for a public enquiry into nursing home deaths in Ireland during Covid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47500/22]
View answerI appreciate that the Deputy has raised this matter on a number of occasions, through various formats, on behalf of those families who lost loved ones during the pandemic.
My Department has corresponded with bereaved family members on a number of occasions and will be responding to the most recent correspondence, dated 22 September, in early course. I can confirm that I met with the group Care Champions, and some of those who had lost loved ones in the nursing home specified by the Deputy, on Monday 12 July 2021. The concerns raised by family members were heard at the meeting and a comprehensive response issued.
In relation to the specific issue raised, the position remains that the Department of the Taoiseach are considering options for a comprehensive evaluation of how the country managed COVID-19. This evaluation will provide an opportunity to learn lessons from our experiences in dealing with a pandemic over the past two years.
I want to again emphasise that throughout the pandemic, the overall national response to COVID-19 has had a specific and sustained focus on older persons, particularly those resident in nursing homes. This included the establishment of a structured nursing home support system, in line with National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) recommendations, to provide enhanced supports to public and private nursing homes. A comprehensive package of direct and indirect supports was established in early 2020 and many of these remain active across the country to support nursing homes on a proactive basis.
In addition, the independent COVID-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel was established early in the pandemic in May 2020 to examine the complex issues surrounding the management of COVID-19 in nursing homes and to provide real-time learnings and recommendations to inform the ongoing response. As the Deputy will be aware, significant progress has already been made in implementing the recommendations of the Expert Panel, particularly those recommendations requiring a priority focus in the response to COVID-19, and work to progress medium and longer term reform recommendations is ongoing across all of the health agencies and stakeholders. Four Expert Panel Progress Reports have been published to date, the latest published on 21 June 2022, and all Progress Reports are available on my Department’s website.
