Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I watched much of the committee hearing yesterday. It was disappointing that officials from the Department of Health were not invited to a committee hearing on nursing homes. Their ears must have been burning but they were not in a position to speak. Nor were representatives of the HSE invited to give an opening statement setting out what it has been doing. However, be that as it may.

Action 4 of the national action plan on Covid, caring for people who are at risk or vulnerable, is all about protecting older and more vulnerable people. There was engagement with the nursing home sector as far back as 19 February, when the head of the HSE met representatives of Nursing Homes Ireland. His note of that meeting specifically refers to his conversation about preparedness for Covid.

I am very conscious that the transfer of patients from one setting to another is done on the basis of clinical guidance and a clinical viewpoint. It would be done on the basis of a doctor deciding that it would be appropriate to transfer somebody. It is true to say that our position on testing evolved throughout the crisis. Ireland is probably one of the only countries to have decided to test all residents and staff in nursing homes regardless of symptoms. I do not accept - because I do not yet have the evidence to accept - that the clusters were caused by the transfer of patients from acute hospital settings. I am not sure that the timeline shows that either. I very much accept the point the Deputy made that this is something that should be established. I hope that the expert review panel, chaired by a public health expert with a geriatrician and a senior nurse on it, could also look at the overall issue of admissions and transfers, and discharges from hospitals. The Deputy raised a fair point in that regard.

See this speech in context