Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I tabled a parliamentary question on this as well. It states, "Separately, the Minister for Health has stated that he believes that a review of the management and impact of COVID-19 in nursing homes is warranted".

The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, mentioned in her response the €145 million provided under the temporary assistance payment scheme. Some €145 million is spent and 27 families in this nursing home still have not got a response to any of their questions. Having the HSE investigate itself is like the Garda investigating the Garda; it does not work.

These families tried their best to be diplomatic. They tried to engage with the Minister for Health. The families mention that Ballynoe is in Cork, the Taoiseach's county, and yet he has not met with these families and the families of other Cork nursing homes. There is a lot in this.

What I am calling for here is that the Minister with responsibility for this issue engages with the families and also listens to them because I know what they want. All they want is answers. The redacting of information under the Freedom of Information Act for family members must be soul destroying when they are only looking for simple answers as to how their mother died, where did their dad die and whether it was in the same room as they were all the time. These are simple questions.

When one gets people so angry on this, it also gives it an air of suspicion, and the more one covers it up the more suspicious people get. That is why these people and these families asked me on their behalf.

We are coming into Christmas and here we are talking about Covid and deaths of elderly people and the most vulnerable again. All these families want is answers and they are asking for an independent public inquiry into what happened in this nursing home.

See this speech in context