Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have no issue with meeting and will meet this representative group. I may not be able to do so today because the Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs is visiting Ireland and I have to meet him after this session. The Government is close to finalising a Covid inquiry. As I said, the objective of an inquiry into Covid and how the country managed it should be an evaluation to make sure that when the next pandemic comes, or other type of emergency, we will be well prepared for it. We should learn from the mistakes that were made but also what was done well, and do that through a proper, constructive evaluation methodology. Otherwise, in the next crisis, people will only be watching their backs instead of making decisions.

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