Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

We all agree that fundamental mistakes were made during this period. What happened in the pandemic was unprecedented in Ireland and across the world. We had never seen it before in our lifetime. What the relatives want and deserve to know is what happened to their family members in their final weeks or days. I just cannot comprehend a situation in which one's mother or father is in a nursing home and there is no access for loved ones. There was panic in some instances. That situation warrants a robust inquiry or whatever the Minister wants to call it, whether a public inquiry or a review. A public inquiry is warranted in respect of the factors that led to so many deaths taking place in a nursing home environment. That is the question at hand. We can call the investigation whatever we want. I acknowledge inquiries have a bad history in this country in that they have been completely dragged out in the past. However, the relatives of those who died at least deserve some answers.

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