Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 December 2022
622. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Health if he intends to establish an independent public inquiry into the high numbers of deaths at a nursing home (details supplied) in east Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62172/22]
View answerI would like to again express my sympathy to all those who lost loved ones during the pandemic.
Since the start of the pandemic, the national response has continuously evolved to take account of emerging evidence and learnings both nationally and internationally. Throughout, this has included a specific focus on older people, in particular, those resident in nursing homes.
Significant supports were put in place for nursing homes, and the situation at both a local and a national level was kept under ongoing and active review. An independent Nursing Homes Expert Panel was established early in the pandemic to examine the management of COVID-19 in nursing homes and provide real-time learnings and recommendations to inform the ongoing response. The Expert Panel reported in August 2020 and significant progress has been made in implementing its recommendations.
The Taoiseach has indicated that a comprehensive evaluation of how the country managed COVID-19 will be undertaken which will provide an opportunity to learn lessons from our experiences in dealing with a pandemic over the past 2 years. This will help ensure that we are in a better, stronger position if another pandemic or another similar type of emergency arrives. Consideration is being given as to what the best model for this evaluation will be.
Separately, the Minister for Health has stated that he believes that a review of the management and impact of COVID-19 in nursing homes is warranted. He has asked the Department of Health to consider the options available for undertaking such a review, taking account of the experience of, and learnings, from other review processes undertaken in recent years.
