Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank our witnesses for giving up their time and for coming in today. This awful pandemic has borne down heaviest on older people, particularly on those in nursing, residential and care homes. We have to be cognisant of the fact that 62% of all deaths that have happened so far have been in those settings and that 93% of all who have lost their lives so far are in the over 65 age bracket.

I have listened to the last speaker with interest and I want to bring the discussion back to the fact that there were failings over the last two months. We all realise that and it is important that we delve into it. It is also very important that we accept that four out of every five people in nursing homes who got Covid-19 recovered and I would like to thank the 40,000 staff in nursing, care and residential homes who have gone far beyond the call of duty.

I undertook a survey between 7 April and 8 April, in which I contacted 80 nursing homes in the south of the country. The results I got from them at that time bear out exactly what Mr. Daly said in his opening statement about the insufficient testing of residents and staff, a massive shortfall of PPE and an aggressive recruitment of nursing home staff. I want to point out that when I conducted that survey, at a time when I was being contacted by nursing homes all over Ireland as Fianna Fáil spokesperson for older people, 50% of the nursing homes that came back to me - and I got a 25% sample - had insufficient staff. That bears out what Mr. Daly said about staffing. On PPE, 30% of the nursing homes that came back to me had sufficient PPE. This was between 8 April and 9 April when we were entering the surge. However, 60% of the nursing homes that came back to me had no PPE and 10% had a three-day supply at that time. That testifies to the fact that nursing homes, whether they were public or private and whether they were care homes or facilities for people with additional needs, it made no difference. They did not have the staff during the Covid-19 pandemic and there was a shortage of PPE. I will stand over that assertion and I have all the emails to back it up.

Mr. Daly said that Nursing Homes Ireland sought detailed Covid-19 advice from the HSE in a letter on 28 February. I accept that it was 30 March before Nursing Homes Ireland met the Minister and his officials. After Nursing Homes Ireland requested dedicated guidance for residential care settings, when did it receive that advice?