THE TERMS OF reference for Ireland’s Covid inquiry are due to go to Cabinet in the next two weeks. 

Senior government sources said the terms of reference will either go to Cabinet on Tuesday or the week after, stating that they are “ready to go”. 

It is understood that promises have been made to brief the opposition parties, but it has been difficult to find a time slot due to recent political events and political leaders travelling abroad.

A consultation with opposition party leaders is currently being scheduled, it is believed.

There will be a public hearing element to the inquiry for those who want to make submission.

There will be a panel of contributors, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar telling the Dáil this week that members will need to be found to serve on it. It could prove complicated, as everyone in Ireland who has expertise on the Covid response was also personally involved in the pandemic, he said. 

“We want people to serve on the inquiry who can be members of it, but who were not involved in making decisions on Covid or commenting on them. This will be quite a challenge,” said Varadkar.

In response to a parliamentary question, Varadkar said it is intended to have a public element “to hear the lived experiences of all society”.

“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.

“It will include a review of the whole-of-government response to the pandemic and how we might do better and be in a stronger position if another pandemic or other similar type event were to occur.

“It will include a consideration of the health service response covering hospitals, the community and nursing homes, along with the wider economic and social response,” said Varadkar. 

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said last month the majority of people behind the scenes at the time of the pandemic “worked well together”.

“It doesn’t mean we always agreed with each other. But we did work well together… I think everyone’s been very open to date as well,” he added. 

“People always look for the drama. And if we look at the coverage to date of Ireland’s response to Covid, it focuses on personalities, it focuses on relationships, it focuses on colour, which is fine. We’re all interested in that. But when you take all of that out broadly I think what we will find is is as a nation, we responded well to Covid,” he said.  

“I believe there will obviously be a focus on colour and text messages or thumbs up emojis and whatever, whatever it might be, but in reality, I think as a nation, I think we’ve a lot to be proud of,” said Donnelly.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has told The Journal in September 2021 that he wanted to see the inquiry up and running in the “earlier part” of 2022. It is now expected the public hearing aspect of the review will not begin until March of next year.

The UK’s Covid inquiry is already underway, focusing on resilience and preparedness, core UK decision-making and political governance, the impact of Covid on healthcare systems as well as vaccines, therapeutics and antiviral treatment. Scotland is holding a separate inquiry.