Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The coronavirus-related deaths of more than 2,000 people in Irish nursing homes reflects an abject failure of policy and oversight by successive health Ministers and the agencies they oversee.

Prior to the pandemic and illuminated again at the very beginning of the pandemic, fatal flaws were exposed in our health and social care services. Many nursing homes were unprepared for any infectious disease outbreak and the consequences were devastating for the families that have lost more than 2,000 relatives in these institutions alone. One death is one too many, but that number is shocking.

At the outset, it is important to commend the many nursing home staff and management who worked hard under considerable pressure, lack of resources and stress 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 not fit for purpose. That is not its fault. The HSE diverted PPE equipment away from the sector, such as valuable oxygen supplies.

The Government should apologise for the needless deaths as a direct result of its policies and lack of investment. Additionally, a full-scale investigation must be undertaken to ensure such a disgraceful situation never occurs again. I am truly flabbergasted that no systemic analysis of safeguarding practice and trends in the sector took place during the pandemic. I tabled a question to the Minister for Health today and I raised this issue with him as well.

I support Sinn Féin's motion. An independent investigation should include a cost-benefit analysis of the Government-imposed lockdowns to date. I refer to the overall costs of the lockdown in the mental health area due to delayed diagnosis and missed diagnosis. The impact on all the services together is shocking, as well as the impact on the community, but the community does not matter; it is lives that matter. People died alone. Ireland had the longest lockdown in the world and the second highest rate of nursing home deaths. It is appalling. I do not blame the staff. We know that 50% of the patients who died were infected in 575 nursing home buildings and 15% of deaths were due to infection in hospital buildings. When we send someone to a nursing home, we talk with people and we check the area. I know that staff do their best, but we expect our loved ones to be safe above anything else and that they will not get infected or die as a result of something they pick up in a hospital or nursing home. A thorough and full investigation must be carried out to ensure that this can never happen again and that we learn from our mistakes. When we look back on it as history, it will be considered a tragedy, but I hope we can learn from it.

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