Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague, Deputy Ó Murchú, for allowing me this time. The Minister of State knows about some of what happened in nursing homes last year. The reality of it has not sunk in properly with Government yet. I mention the pressure nursing homes were under when they were screaming for PPE and oxygen. That was the reality on the ground and patients continued to be transferred from hospitals without testing. The ambiguous guidelines that were provided for nursing homes and hospitals at the time led and added to this chaos. There were no GPs around at the time. GPs were just giving advice over the phone to nurses who were overrun in nursing home wards. These nurses were trying to take advice on a pandemic that we knew little about. There were no drips to give patients the medication that was needed. Patients with Alzheimer's disease were kicking and lashing out because they did not understand what was happening to their bodies and because medication could not be given to them.

Healthcare assistants were in the middle of all of this and many of them are now suffering from post-traumatic stress. We need to capture their testimonies for that to be placed on record and to change things that happened at the time. These are the selfsame healthcare assistants who are still on the minimum wage. We laud them and clap for them but they are still on the minimum wage, which is hard to believe. Some of them have over a decade's experience working in this sector.

Families need answers and the truth. They have been traumatised by the circumstances surrounding the deaths of their loved ones. The Government must conduct a public inquiry. I commend my colleague, Deputy Cullinane, on bringing this motion to the floor of the House. We need a full public inquiry into, and accountability for, the horrors that went on in nursing homes right across this State.

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