Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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322. To ask the Minister for Health if he will consider establishing a full public inquiry into deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic at both public and private nursing and care homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58627/22]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Since the start of the pandemic, the national response has continuously evolved to take account of emerging evidence and learnings both nationally and internationally. Throughout, this has included a specific focus on older people, in particular, those resident in nursing homes.

Significant supports were put in place for nursing homes, and the situation at both a local and a national level was kept under ongoing and active review. An independent Nursing Homes Expert Panel was established early in the pandemic to examine the management of COVID-19 in nursing homes and provide real-time learnings and recommendations to inform the ongoing response. The Expert Panel reported in August 2020 and significant progress has been made in implementing its recommendations.

The Taoiseach has indicated that a comprehensive evaluation of how the country managed COVID-19 will be undertaken which 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 of emergency arrives. Consideration is being given as to what the best model for this evaluation will be.

Separately, the Minister for Health has stated that he believes that a review of the management and impact of COVID-19 in nursing homes is warranted. He has asked the Department of Health to consider the options available for undertaking such a review, taking account of the experience of, and learnings, from other review processes undertaken in recent years.