Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House. I ask him to make a statement on the publishing of the full protected disclosure investigation report on the Phoenix Park community nursing home, St. Mary's, in Dublin, the only nursing home run by the State during the Covid pandemic. I draw the Minister of State's attention to the fact we have the HSE whistleblower, Margo, here today. We also have the family of one of the residents of St. Mary's, Eileen Delany, who passed away of Covid, sadly, during the pandemic crisis. Margo Hannon raised concerns in St. Mary's shortly after the outbreak of the pandemic, when we had An Taoiseach talk to us from the United States about the pandemic and the measures and the steps we would have to take. We all remember those momentous days in March 2020 when we went into lockdown. Margo was working on the front line in St. Mary's as a very experienced healthcare assistant, with 16 years' experience.From the very outset, Margo Hannon had very serious concerns about infection control measures and the isolation of elderly and vulnerable patients who were being cared for by the State. They were at the very epicentre of the Covid-19 crisis. People should have known better than to put patients, our most venerable citizens, our elderly citizens, our mothers, fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers, at risk, and put them into this vulnerable position. She raised concerns which were not acted on, so she had to make a protected disclosure for which she experienced reprisal and retaliation. That is a common experience in Ireland. One is punished for doing the right thing. A report was commissioned on foot of her protected disclosure which was supposed to be expedient but took two years to report. This report was 500 pages in length and has not been published. The family members were not consulted. It seems to have been the case, with this report, that the investigators consisted of two senior members of the HSE on a reporting panel. It was not independent, nor could it be seen to be independent. Essentially, to get to the nub of this, Ms Hannon identified shortcomings that were validated during the first Covid-19 wave but no action was taken on the concerns she raised. During the fourth wave of Covid-19 there were several fatalities in that nursing home. We know this is part of a broader issue with regard to the concentration of elderly people in residential settings during the pandemic. We are going to have more pandemics. It is certain. That has been observed and predicted by the World Health Organization, WHO, and the HSE.

It is, therefore, essential this report be published in order that we can learn from the lessons and the issues raised by Ms Hannon, so that other families do not end up losing precious loved ones, as Bernadette Delany and her son, Seán, here did. I am also thinking of other vulnerable citizens like my own son, people who are disabled and medically compromised. Why not publish this? Why not set out the findings and, critically, the recommendations to protect and save the lives of our most vulnerable citizens.