Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have said a number of times here that Covid has been absolutely dreadful. In addition, it has shown up certain weaknesses in society, particularly in the areas of healthcare and housing. It has put a strain on a system that was already strained.

I thank Deputy McNamara, the secretariat of the committee and all the members, including some of my Sinn Féin colleagues. The committee dealt with work during a particularly rough period in our history. It dealt with what none of us would have anticipated when we were elected to this Dáil. We are far from being through the woods. The number of cases is too high. While we may have lower numbers than many places throughout Europe, they are still too high. Unfortunately, we have had over 2,000 deaths, which we never wanted to happen. This has obviously meant pain and considerable loss for very many families.

I want to deal with recommendation 1, on the public inquiry into the deaths in nursing homes. A valid point is that we need to conduct our inquiry without a retrospective look based on what we now understand about the transmission of Covid-19 and dealing with it. It will not come as any shock to the Minister that the issue I am going to talk about is Dealgan House and the unfortunate loss of 22 of its residents, resulting in great anguish for a large number of families. I am aware that the Minister has met these families. I welcome what he said in his speech in the sense that he is looking for a formula or mechanism - I do not want to put words in his mouth - for giving people the answers they need. That is vital. It is important that it happen as soon as possible. Obviously, the families' ask is for a public inquiry. They have been very tenacious and have had multiple meetings with multiple groups. They have obtained freedom of information releases that have made national newspapers and national news. I refer in particular to information they garnered from the HSE. An awful lot of this is disputed. I welcome the HIQA report into Dealgan House that mentioned some very positive aspects in respect of elder care. That is to be welcomed. If there are improvements regarding elder care, we will all support them but it is absolutely necessary that there be an investigative mechanism to give people the answers they need and ensure we learn everything that needs to be learned because there have been worries about several nursing homes.

I welcome conversations I had with representatives from the HSE. They spoke about the HSE now having a better set-up for communication, line management and dealing with issues in nursing homes. On some level, that is an acceptance that there were difficulties but it is very positive.

Recommendation 2 relates to the impact of privatisation. We all have a changed view on healthcare. It is a lot easier to sell the idea that we need universal healthcare that is free at the point of delivery from the cradle to the grave. We acknowledge that there are difficulties with privatisation in that we do not necessarily have the staffing ratios and skill sets we would want. These matters need to be addressed. What we really need to do is ensure that recommendation 4 is implemented. It concerns the recommendations of the expert panel on nursing homes. Implementation is required as soon as possible.

We have a difficulty in the sense that we have opted for a residential solution in respect of elder care. We need to give people the facility, whether through home care packages or other measures, to avail of care within the community, where suitable. We have a great number of difficulties and need to deal with them. Covid-19 has shown up a number of these and we need action as soon as possible. I ask that the Minister speak to the families about Dealgan House as soon as is practicable.

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