Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Members for bringing this report to the House this evening for statements. It is too important to pass without such a discussion. I thank Deputy McNamara for his chairmanship of the committee. I thank all the committee members from across the House who contributed so much over the many meetings we held. I thank the witnesses for their insight, experience and expertise, which was invaluable in informing the committee and its report and in informing the public who watched intently the various discussions around Covid-19 and the challenges it presents. I thank the secretariat and the staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas for facilitating all of the meetings. I would say that the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response brought forward a pathway for this House to create the other committees of the House, such as the standing committees. It showed a way of facilitating those committees, even through level 5 restrictions like those in place today.

I especially thank my party colleagues who served on the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response from the start on 7 May. I thank the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly; the Minister of State, Deputy Butler; the Minister, Deputy Foley; and Deputy John McGuinness for their contributions to this 108-page report. It is important to remember that the committee met 67 times in public session over a 30-day period, receiving 275 submissions since 19 May. This allowed the Oireachtas to prepare for future committees to be facilitated by the House. It was an invaluable committee because it gave focus to the various issues and sectors impacted by Covid-19 at the time.

Sadly, at the time of the report, we had lost 1,800 mainly older people to the virus. Thankfully, as a country, as a society and as a Government we have learned much more about this virus and how to live with it, and we have published a plan for living with Covid-19, about which we have spoken previously in this House. The attention paid to the testimony of witnesses at the time was quite moving. It captured the attention of the public and indeed the media. It was an outlet for people to ponder questions and considerations at the time of the first wave of the pandemic. Little did we know we would see ourselves back here so quickly at level 5, but it illustrates the pace and infectious nature of this virus and the need for us to take heed of that.

The first of the 11 recommendations, which is correctly No. 1, relates to nursing homes. This was the single most discussed issue at the committee and is rightly noted as such in the report, especially since older people in this category accounted for 56% of all deaths from Covid-19 up to the time of the publication of the report. Since the committee ceased its work, I have put questions to the HSE on the resources being given, particularly around nursing homes. I am sure that resources and attention is being given to that cohort as we speak. The committee's recommendation that "a public inquiry be established to investigate and report on all circumstances relating to each individual death from Covid-19 in nursing homes" is being examined by the Joint Committee on Health at present.

The committee's second recommendation covers the need to review "the impact of privatisation of Ireland's nursing homes". There will be many more challenges going forward but the issue of nursing home and residential care for the elderly and how that may arise in the future, pandemic or no pandemic, will involve many different Departments.

Unlike then, but thankfully now, many hospital appointments and services continue to be offered. During the first wave, this was one of the main issues the committee discussed. I am very happy that, in the current wave, we have seen a total change regarding health services. This is not to say that everything is perfect, because there are problems. Community services, such as orthodontic services in my constituency, are affected by particularly long waiting lists. We need to address these if there are going to be further restrictions.

I wish to highlight some of the other recommendations, including on testing and tracing and the report of the nursing homes expert panel. Recommendation 5 concerns the statutory sick pay scheme. In that regard, the social protection payments are assisting.

Recommendation 6 relates to a regulatory review of the framework of HIQA and the Health and Safety Authority. That is an important element because, pandemic or no pandemic, we need to ensure both organisations are not crisscrossing each other, that they are fit for purpose and that they can implement any required changes to regulations or legislation.

Recommendation 7 is about shared residential facilities, such as direct provision centres. This needs to be tackled, irrespective of a pandemic. Recommendations 8 to 11, inclusive, deal with many issues, such as meat-packing plants and, as my colleague Deputy McAuliffe referred to, the data relied upon by NPHET, which comprise an important aspect.

Let me put in context where we are today. The initial report from the Department of Health on 11 March stated that there were 43 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with nine new cases on that day. Tonight, there are 429 confirmed cases and yesterday there were 379. We are now obviously on the right trajectory, as the Minister said, but it is important for all of us in this House and the general public to adhere to public health guidelines in order that we can drive these numbers down. I heard one of my colleagues say that the committee should have sat for longer but the body of work done was significant. It was a privilege for me, as a new Deputy, to have served on it. It is important that we all focus on the need to reduce the numbers, reduce our amount of social contact, take personal responsibility and adhere to the public health guidelines.

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