Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this excellent motion on the need for the Government to begin a full public inquiry into the scandal of the neglect and deaths in nursing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Some community hospitals must also be brought into this public inquiry.

At the outset, it is important to commend the many nursing home staff who worked hard under considerable pressure and stress, as well with as a lack of resources during the pandemic, to do their best to look after those in their care. However, it is clear that the sector as a whole was unable to cope effectively due to the chronic understaffing, weak governance arrangements, poor safeguarding provisions and a lack of investment.

The Coronavirus-related deaths of more than 2,000 people in nursing homes reflects an abject failure of policy and oversight by successive health Ministers and the agencies they oversee. Prior to the pandemic, fatal flaws were exposed in the health system and social care services. Many nursing homes and some community hospitals were unprepared for an outbreak of infectious disease. The consequences were devastating for families who lost more than 2,000 relatives in these institutions alone.

Given the shocking magnitude of this situation, I fully endorse and support the establishment of a commission of investigation or an alternative form of public inquiry into the handling of Covid-19 in long-term care facilities. Such an inquiry should be efficient and time-bound and interact actively with the families who lost loved ones in nursing homes during the pandemic. The scale of the deaths that occurred in care homes during the pandemic is truly unprecedented. It is a dire reflection of the state of Ireland's health services and the lack of adequate resources available.

Were community hospitals and nursing homes up to HIQA standards that were set by various Governments? Scandalously, they were not. Unfortunately, I know for a fact that was the situation in west Cork. It has done untold damage to families in my constituency. Previous Ministers have questions to answer, not, in fairness, the two Ministers of State who are present, Deputies Butler and Rabbitte. More than 2,000 elderly people lost their lives.

Now the grants have been withdrawn from nursing homes, which is another scandal. On the one hand, we are told people cannot go into a restaurant or a pub because of the danger, yet on the other hand, health staff are being withdrawn to make sure that they do not get the virus in nursing homes.

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