Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

It is important to repeat that the information we received is characterised that these 3,500 people who died contracted Covid in a nursing home or in a hospital. Out of respect to those people who have lost loved ones, they should be entitled to the truth and entitled to justice in relation to what happened them. They want information here. They do not want a nebulous review or inquiry. They want a commission of investigation that happens in a public fashion. If we do not do this for them, then they will not get to the bottom of what happened to their loved ones and they will not get justice for what happened to their loved ones. Right now, the information we have shows that 44 families are currently starting legal action against the State as a result of what happened. If there is not a full public investigation I worry that we will have the time-honoured example of this Government aggressively litigating against those families who have lost loved ones, in the same manner the Government has done on numerous occasions, so that families spend years tied up in the justice system expending massive amounts of their own resources in trying to achieve justice. Will the Taoiseach go on the record to say that we will have a full commission of investigation into this tragedy?

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