Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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This is a very important question. As a newly appointed Taoiseach, I am very committed to an independent Covid evaluation. I would go so far as to say it is essential. I am very proud of a lot of the work done by a lot of people in the public service, the health service, etc. at that time. However, I am also absolutely clear that we need a look-back. The approach of Deputies English and O'Callaghan is right. My understanding is that there was an excellent meeting with Opposition parties and other stakeholders. I certainly do not speak for any other party but I think there is an emerging consensus as to the way we can take this forward.

The only reason I am not putting a specific timeframe on when I will bring the proposals to the Cabinet is that I need to engage with the Tánaiste, who is Deputy O'Callaghan's party leader, and with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. It is something I would like to move on quite quickly. There is an allocation for that purpose in my Department's Vote for this year. It is something that should happen quite quickly, while thoughts are fresh in people's minds.

Without getting ahead of a Government decision, we are talking about the idea of a panel of independent people. I certainly have not made a decision yet as to the composition of any such panel. A membership with a range of expertise would be useful because, as I said in my opening remarks, the approach we should take is a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. Obviously, there will be a health aspect, including important and legitimate questions around nursing home care, personal protective equipment, PPE, and other health decisions. There absolutely will also be a need for consideration, as the Deputy said, of the impact the decisions made had on children and education, including children with special educational needs and educational disadvantage. Consideration will also be needed of the impact on business and the economic rationale for decisions taken. I expect there will be good interactions in terms of how we look at the impact on the island of Ireland. The pandemic did not respect political jurisdiction. We can look at what worked well and what did not in that regard. There is a whole range of areas to consider. It would be very difficult to find one person with expertise in all of that. Therefore, a panel-type approach seems to be the way to go. I would like to move quite quickly on that.