Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Buckley for raising the issue. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Butler.

I would also like to take this opportunity to reiterate my sincere sympathies to all those whose loved ones passed away in nursing homes, the one the Deputy raises here but nationwide as well, during the pandemic.

I want to emphasise that quality care and patient safety is a priority for the Government, and the delivery of safe, high-quality services is of paramount importance and focus. Nursing home providers are ultimately responsible for the safe care of their residents.

The Covid-19 pandemic has presented one of the greatest and most wide-ranging public health challenges internationally in recent history. International evidence shows that the virus disproportionately impacts older people, and people living in long-term residential care facilities have been identified as particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 by the World Health Organization.

Recognising the particular vulnerability of nursing home settings, the State quickly put in place a comprehensive package of supports for nursing homes in line with the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, recommendations in early 2020 and many of these supports remain active. These include more than €145 million provided under the temporary assistance payment scheme, TAPS, with outbreak assistance extended up to December 2022. Other supports included: free personal protection equipment; Covid-19 regional response teams; public health and infection prevention and control advice and guidance; accommodation support; and serial testing for staff. Nursing home residents were also the first to be vaccinated under the State vaccination programme.

Since the start of the pandemic there has been significant and ongoing consideration of the impact of Covid-19 and the evolution of the response to it, as evidence and knowledge emerged, and as national and international understanding of the virus evolved. Throughout, this has included a specific and sustained focus on older persons, in particular, those resident in nursing homes. Various examinations and reports with a focus on Covid-19, its impact on nursing homes and the pandemic learnings that can inform future policy, regulation and the model of care for older persons have been undertaken.

In particular, the independent Covid-19 nursing homes expert panel was established in May 2020 to examine the complex issues surrounding the management of Covid-19, and to provide real-time learnings and recommendations to inform the ongoing approach to the management and mitigation of risk to older persons resident in nursing homes as the pandemic evolved.

The Taoiseach has indicated that a comprehensive evaluation of how the country managed Covid-19 will provide an opportunity to learn lessons from our experiences in dealing with a pandemic. This will help ensure that we are in a better, stronger position if another pandemic or another similar-type emergency arrives. Separately, the Minister has also asked his Department to consider the options available for undertaking a potential review of the management and impact of Covid-19 in nursing homes, taking account of the experience of, and learnings from, other review processes undertaken in recent years.

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