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

I thank the expert panel for its report and the comprehensive way in which it has approached its work. I will pick up on a point briefly addressed by Professor Twomey concerning the impact on staff. I do not want to dwell too much on this issue, but we know that 56% of total deaths from Covid-19 in this State, thus far, have occurred in nursing homes. Workers in that area are not unaccustomed to dealing with end-of-life situations. From talking to people in my community and some members of my family, I know that a degree of trauma - this is not exclusive to nursing homes - was experienced by staff in the healthcare sector as a result of how they had to deal with Covid-19. They were almost learning on the job. In nursing homes that was compounded early on by a flight from the sector into more mainstream healthcare areas. We know nursing homes were crying out for staff and that the Be on Call for Ireland initiative did not work or make a substantial difference. It was little more than a public relations exercise, a bit of spin and nonsense.

Regarding staff and how we can build in some resilience, because this situation is not over, do the witnesses have any recommendations regarding supports that could be put in place? The skill mix is important, but we do not need to review that because we have skill mix reports going back some 20 years. That aspect of the health service has been reviewed to death. Do the witnesses have views on the supports available to staff now and what else could be put in place? I ask that question because we owe our healthcare workers a little more than just a round of applause and a pat on the head. This crisis has had a mental health impact, and we have yet to deal with that. I address my question to Professor Twomey.