Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yes. This is my first opportunity to speak in the Chamber and I would like to express my sympathy, and that of Sinn Féin, to the family, friends and colleagues of Detective Garda Colm Horkan. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

I thank the witnesses for coming in again to give evidence this morning. I appreciate that it is a busy time for them. I express my thanks and appreciation for the work being done in the HSE and the Department of Health. We fully appreciate how busy they are at this time. Also, our sympathies are with those who are bereaved as a result of Covid-19.

My questions are mainly around the transfer of patients initially from the acute hospital sector into the private and the public nursing home sector. When Tadhg Daly was before the committee a couple of weeks ago, he said that there was no plan for the nursing home sector for the entire month of March. He also said that the sector was exasperated and that they were crying out for a specific plan but that there was none forthcoming. He further said that key State organisations left the nursing home sector and its residents isolated in those early days. Would Mr. Breslin agree with Mr. Daly that the nursing home sector was abandoned and left without a plan for almost the entire month of March?