TAOISEACH SIMON HARRIS has said the Government is committed to holding a Covid inquiry before the next general election. 

Harris today said that the terms of reference for the inquiry will be published in the coming weeks. 

The announcement comes after the publication of a report which found that there were an estimated 1,100 excess deaths in Ireland in the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. 

The study from the Society of Actuaries stated that lockdown restrictions potentially led to less excess deaths in 2020. 

Harris today said that the research shows the benefits of “life-saving decisions that were made by the Irish Government” during the pandemic. 

“The Government has made it clear, the three parties in Government, we want a review in relation to the pandemic, I think that is the sensible thing to do,” he said. 

On the RTÉ News at One, Social Democrats spokesperson Roisin Shortall said that there has been a delay in getting a Covid inquiry up and running, and that neither the Taoiseach or Tánaiste has explained why this is the case. 

“We know that in the UK, for example, and in Northern Ireland, that they’re very much ahead of us in terms of the timing of their inquiries,” she said.

Opposition parties made submissions that would inform Government as it began developing the terms of reference for a Covid review, but that progress seemed to stall beyond that point. 

Shortall called for a fully independent chair to be put in place to head up the review, and for economic and social policy impacts to be fully assessed, as well as the role of nursing homes, and policy on nursing homes during the pandemic. 

The Stormont Covid-19 inquiry has seen Michelle O’Neill criticised for deleting text messages, former First Minister Arlene Foster’s text messages heavily analysed, and the then-Health Minister Robin Swann speaking out about the amount of leaking that happened within the Stormont Executive following public health meetings. 

It’s expected that Ministers here will be expected to hand over their messages and correspondence with colleagues, where it related to political decision making during the pandemic. 

Excess deaths

While Ireland had some excess deaths during the first two years of the pandemic, the analysis conducted by the Society of Actuaries in Ireland reveals “broadly no excess mortality in 2020″, but significantly more during the pandemic’s second year.

Excess mortality is defined as the difference between observed deaths and expected deaths.

Among various possible reasons why there was lower excess death in 2020, government-imposed restrictions stand out as one potential significant factor, the report suggests.

Linda Daly of the Society of Actuaries told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the introduction of the vaccine also “lessened the effects” of Covid-19 on mortality rates in 2021.

The report examines the level of excess all-cause mortality experienced in Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic, offering some insights beyond the tally of reported fatalities.

The authors emphasise that, “whilst this report provides a numerical analysis of the deaths experienced in Ireland in 2020/2021, the Society is very much cognisant of the people behind these numbers and is mindful of those who suffered the loss of a loved one during this period”.

“It is important to note that there is not one definitive approach to calculating excess mortality – mainly because, whilst observed deaths will ultimately be a matter of record (i.e. they are objective), the calculation of expected deaths is dependent on the choice of methodology (i.e., it relies on professional judgement),” the authors warned.