Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Mary Bartley-Meehan lost her son and husband to Covid-19. When her husband, Ultan, died, his face was discoloured with black, congealed blood. It had become infected and, shockingly, his face had become infested with maggots. The Minister for Health, the Department of Health, the HSE, HIQA and the Ombudsman have all so far refused to investigate what happened. Practically every second night, Mary has nightmares about that infestation. She said to me yesterday that she hopes she does not die without them saying sorry to her. Mary is just one of thousands of families who lost loved ones during Covid-19 in nursing homes. North of the Border we see the Covid inquiry is in full swing. We see the hypocrisy of Michelle O'Neill laid bare in relation to that, but in this part of Ireland we do not have a Covid inquiry, we do not have terms of reference and we do not have a Government that has any will to carry out this investigation. Some 2,300 lives were lost in the nursing home sector during that period. Why does this Government not want to investigate what it did in regard to Covid?

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