Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and thank them very much for their contributions. I particularly welcome the statement from Professor Twomey on the nature of the type of care we provide for our older persons. One thing is certain; we will all be there some day so it is important that we get the future right.

I would like to look back on the past and what the expert panel's report set out to do. I would Professor Twomey to comment because I believe his terms of reference were quite restricted in terms of what he could delve down into on what happened in the nursing homes. He was tasked to provide assurance that national protective measures were in place in line with international guidelines and to provide recommendations. He does not, however, seem to be able to move beyond that to say who or what was responsible for the spike in deaths or the 56% of all deaths in nursing homes. The report identifies some areas but Professor Twomey has said repeatedly that he completely disagreed with the policy decisions that were made over recent decades and that there was a significant gap in support for the care of our elderly, with 80% being in private settings where there was no oversight. I would like him to comment on the terms of reference. Would he have liked them to be expanded so he could make clearer and more concise recommendations about the nature of care going forward? It is well known that what is called the "grey rush" is now an investment opportunity for a large number of global corporations and it is exploitative of the care of our elderly. We need new ways to develop that. I, for one, will push that because we need to look at reversing the private-public trend that has developed over the past 20 years with 80% private to 20% public and voluntary homes.

There are alarming or worrying reports, and there was no doubt this was going to happen again, that the numbers of Covid-19 cases are beginning to increases in our nursing home sector. The expert panel has made good recommendations on issues such as access to rapid testing with fast-tracked results and ensuring all residents coming from the community or transferred from hospitals are tested. It is probably in the report that all staff should be tested.

Will our guests comment as to whether they are confident that the testing of staff, provision of PPE and the protection of the elderly in these homes, all of the recommendations the panel is making, are now happening? Our guests may not be able to answer that in detail and I acknowledge they have already given some answers about the near future to Deputy Shortall, but I am concerned about now and the return of Covid-19 to our nursing homes in numbers.