Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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764. To ask the Minister for Health the plans to review the deaths from Covid-19 in nursing homes in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39190/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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There has been a clear national commitment to continue to learn from the pandemic and where necessary to ensure that the public health-led approach evolves, as evidence and learning materialises.

The Taoiseach has indicated that a comprehensive evaluation of how the country managed COVID-19 will provide an opportunity to learn lessons from our experiences in dealing with a pandemic over the past 2 years. This will help ensure that we are in a better, stronger position if another pandemic or another similar type emergency arrives. Consideration is being given as to what the best model for this evaluation will be.

I recognise how difficult it has been for the families of nursing home residents who died during this pandemic, which has presented one of the greatest and most wide-ranging public health challenges internationally in recent history. Throughout the pandemic, the overall national response to COVID-19 has had a specific and sustained focus on older persons, particularly those resident in nursing homes.

This included the establishment of a structured nursing home support system, in line with National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) recommendations, to provide enhanced supports to public and private nursing homes. A comprehensive package of direct and indirect supports was established in early 2020 and many of these remain active across the country to support nursing homes on a proactive basis.    

In addition, the independent COVID-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel was established early in the pandemic in May 2020 to examine the complex issues surrounding the management of COVID-19 in nursing homes and to provide real-time learnings and recommendations to inform the ongoing response. The Expert Panel report outlines the key protective measures that we must ensure are in place across our nursing homes, based on learning from our own and the international experience of COVID-19. Work to progress the recommendations of the Expert Panel report, particularly those recommendations requiring a priority focus in the response to COVID-19, is ongoing across all of the health agencies and stakeholders. Four Expert Panel Progress Reports have been published to date, the latest published on 21 June 2022, and all Progress Reports are available on my Department’s website.

One of the most important things we can take from the sadness, illness, and death experienced over the last two years is our learning and understanding of the challenges facing the nursing home sector. Through engagement with key stakeholders in the nursing home sector, including residents, their families and advocacy groups, we are committed to implementing the recommendations of the Nursing Homes Expert Panel and a programme of reform is ongoing across health agencies and stakeholders to ensure an improved quality of service and experience for residents into the future.