Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Some 24 residents died in a 51-bed nursing home at Ballynoe in Cork during the Covid emergency. They were just some of the more than 1,500 people who died in nursing homes during those times. Families and loved ones have many questions they want answered about the care that was and, in some cases, was not given in the homes. Ireland's Covid inquiry is due to be set up in the near future. Majella Beattie of Care Champions told Shannonside radio that older people and people in care were often seen through a medical lens rather than being seen as human beings with thoughts and being able to make choice and having human rights. They were never given that. Where rights were given in other countries, we continued with extreme restrictions on older people. Care Champions are calling for a human rights expert to be on the panel that looks at what happened in our nursing homes and how we go forward from here. Will the Taoiseach agree to this request?

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