Proposals for Irish Covid inquiry to be complete before September
Over two years since the final pandemic restriction was lifted, Ireland still has not begun its inquiry.
The plan for Ireland’s COVID-19 inquiry will be published before the Dáil returns in September, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has suggested.
Over two years since the final pandemic restriction was lifted, Ireland still has not begun its inquiry. This is despite the Government continuing to state that it would set up the “evaluation”.
In January, former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar stated that the Government would set up a non-statutory inquiry into the country’s handling of the health crisis.
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Speaking to reports in Addis Ababa, the Tánaiste said that the inquiry needs to be done before the end of this government’s term.
He said that he would like to have proposals for the inquiry published and members appointed before the Dáil restarts in September.
Mr Martin also said that he accepts the inquiry’s set-up has been delayed.
“I regret that we haven't brought this to a conclusion. I think we should bring it to conclusion shortly,” he said.
“I think it's very important to evaluate. Now there has been some evaluation from a public health perspective, but I had no issue with evaluating how we did.
“It is not so much how we did that's important. A lot of people suffered, but also having a broad look at it from a societal point of view, the economy, the economic interventions, the public health, the structure we used.
“Can we do better than next time if another pandemic hit us or some other type of global emergency hit the country? We do need to have animals. It's fundamental so that you prepare better for the future.”
Mr Martin said he wanted to avoid the “legal adversarial nature of the British inquiry” and “people coming in with legal teams” as he questioned how beneficial that approach was.
He said that there could be several formats that the inquiry could take, including a panel chaired by an independent person.
He continued: “It would be public sessions but not in the classic sort of tribunal on inquiry mode. I don't believe that's where the people are either.
“I think generally society feels we did well as a country. We did, overall in terms of excess deaths, but also in terms of dealing with something that was unprecedented in the country's history and a once-in-a-100-year event.
“We do need to learn lessons, we didn’t get everything right. And because it would it would strengthen us for the future."
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