John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome everyone to discuss what is a very important topic. Much of what we have discussed and will discuss, in hindsight will point out a lot of failures but it is important to portray the backdrop to what was happening. As Mr. Mulvany alluded to himself, everyone was looking at the images. There were horrific scenes in Italy where military trucks were carrying coffins and that was playing out across all our screens. There was very much a sense of panic, not knowing what was happening and what was coming at us.

We do know that on 11 March, the WHO, elevated Covid to a pandemic level. Was it only at that stage that the HSE carried out analysis on ventilators? Prior to that, it was widely reported that ventilators would be critical to address the needs. Was it only after the 11 March when the WHO declared it as a pandemic that the analysis was initiated by the HSE?