TÁNAISTE MICHEÁL MARTIN has said he is in “no doubt” the former chief medical officers and members of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) will appear before the long-awaited Covid-19 inquiry.
The evaluation is expected to be up and running “in a matter of weeks” and will be chaired by retired NUIG professor Anne Scott.
Those in government, including Martin, have insisted it is to be an “evaluation”, rather than an “inquiry”.
“They will come forward, I have no doubt about that,” Martin said today when asked about concerns raised over the lack of power to compel witnesses, such as former chief medical officers and members of NPHET.
Speaking to reporters in Athlone, Martin said “it’s in the public interest” for former NPHET members to take part.
He added that the chief medical officers “are very enthusiastic about public health”.
“So I’ve no doubt that the people in the public interest field will come forward. I wouldn’t have any doubts about that, but again, I think it’s the spirit in which we enter into this is important, because we do need to make sure that in the future we can do things even better and understand, measure our performance against the objectives of what we were trying to do,” he said.
In his view, if any issues or “difficulties” arise during the course of the inquiry, “then it falls to a new government to review that”, he said.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said announcing the “bare bones” of an inquiry the week before the Dáil is likely to be dissolved “looks rather tokenistic”.
She said the announcement yesterday of the terms of reference was “rather late in the day”, but said her party did welcome the progress as Labour has been pushing for a firm commitment of an inquiry for a number of years.
Bacik said she wants to see more details of the inquiry, highlighting concerns about whether all hearings would be held in public.
Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald has also weighed in by strongly criticising the government’s “late-in-the-day and weak” Covid review.
She criticised the lack of powers to compel witnesses and documents where someone fails to cooperate.
In a statement, McDonald said that powers of compellability may be needed to get closure and transparency for the many bereaved families, highlighting that many feel stonewalled by a select number of nursing homes where there were extreme problems during the pandemic.
“What the government is proposing does not have the confidence of many bereaved families. They need to know that this will not be a whitewash,” said the Sinn Féin leader.
Taoiseach Simon Harris today defended the government’s “evaluation” approach.
“Ireland got lots of things right during that period of time, but also there was a lot of pain, a lot of hurt, and indeed a lot of loss, including loss of lives during the Covid pandemic,” he added.
“It’s really important that we look back at what went well and we look at what didn’t.
“It’s also important that we look forward in terms of the learnings of that and how that can be applied to future pandemic preparedness. I really want to thank Professor Ann Scott for agreeing to chair the panel,” he said.
Structures that have been used in the past that have not been statutory have yielded really good progress, he added, citing the (Gabriel) Scally report which dealt with CervicalCheck scandal.
“We’ve now appointed an independent chair. It is for that independent chair to decide how best she and her panel wish to conduct that and, of course, any extra assistance or advice or powers that she believes she needs, of course, Government will absolutely keep an open mind of that,” he added.
Harris went on to say that Prof Scott will be independent in her work, and that the panel will hear from people who wish to be heard.
“I think it’s also really important that the voices and experiences of people impacted by Covid, and some awfully impacted by Covid, are recorded, are heard. I really look forward to a process being put in place to make that happen,” he added.
“We wanted to make sure we made progress in terms of moving this forward ahead of a general election, that was something I felt very strongly about,” said the Taoiseach.
The Tánaiste also defended the approach, stating that he has always been consistent in not wanting to go down the “adversarial legal” approach.
“I’ve always been of that view. What we need to do is really assess how we responded across all the various areas, health, in particular, preservation of life, education, childcare, economy, all aspects of our society. How did we respond? What lessons did we learn from that? Could we do better the next time in the event of another emergency, be it a pandemic or another type of emergency. We should evaluate the structures that emerged, and that would be a map for the chairperson,” he said this morning.
The approach announced by the government yesterday will expedite the findings, said the Tánaiste.
“I was the Taoiseach during Covid. I have no issue in terms of, I’ve reflected on all of my experiences as Taoiseach during Covid, and I’m looking forward to giving those in an objective and impartial way for the benefit of future teaching and future governments,” he added.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said she welcomed the appointment of Professor Anne Scott to carry out an evaluation into the country’s response to Covid-19.
“During the pandemic, nurses and midwives reorganised services, set up new services and went to work in very hazardous circumstances prior to vaccine protection and after to keep patient care as safe as possible under the very difficult conditions that existed,” she said, stating that Covid-19 has left lasting health impacts on some INMO members, with many still suffering from Long Covid.
“Healthcare provision is and will continue to be very hazardous occupation and this must be acknowledged in this evaluation and future governments must put real and timely protections and supports in place for those who risk their future health for the good of others,” she said.
With reporting by Press Association
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