Given the High Number of Deaths and the Massive Societal Impacts, a Wishy Washy Covid Evaluation is Not Good Enough. - Tóibín
Aontú Leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín, has warned the Government that a “wishy-washy” Covid evaluation will not be acceptable, saying that due to the high number of deaths and the enormous societal impacts, that a full public inquiry with the ability compel papers and witnesses is necessary.
“Its long been my suspicion that the government did not want a Covid Inquiry before the General Election as they are worried that it would shine a light into the mistakes that the government has made during Covid. I attended a meeting of party leaders with the then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar a number of months ago. It was clear at that meeting that the government did not want key decision makers to be compelled to appear before any Covid-19 Inquiry. Shockingly only Aontú made the point, at that meeting, that any inquiry must be public and must have the power to compel witnesses and papers. The then Taoiseach made it clear that he was opposed this and so it transpires today.
So many people died in nursing homes during the Covid crisis. Thousands of people were moved from hospitals into nursing homes at the start of the Covid crisis without being tested, thus seeding the illness into Nursing Homes, which was the ground zero of Covid deaths.
Nursing Homes were closed and then reopened at the start of the crisis also. This led to confusion and deaths. Staffing of Nursing Homes and the lack of materials such as PPE caused major problems. Nursing Homes were forced to phone relations of residents asking for help. They went on Facebook and radio looking for staff. Simon Harris set up the ‘Be on Call for Ireland’ campaign. Out of the 70,000 people who signed up, only 400 people were ever employed.
We also need to investigate the closure of life and death health services during the crisis. I had skin in the game literally. I had skin cancer during Covid and I was being told by staff working in hospitals that many cancer services were greatly curtailed. Cancer screening was closed for tens of thousands of people. Doctors were warning that there would be tidal wave of advanced cancers unless the services were reopened. We need to investigate the massive increase in excess deaths that are happening now and indeed since the Covid Crisis receded,”
“Ireland locked down for longer and more severely than any other country in Europe. We need to investigate the relationship between the longest school closures and the soaring numbers of children who are being referred to TUSLA since. We need to investigate the relationship between the spike in domestic violence that is happening now and the serve lockdowns. Ireland has the worst housing crisis in Europe, yet our government was the only government that closed down all construction for a period during Covid. We need to ascertain the effect shutting down supply chains had on the massive inflation that resulted in the years afterwards,”.
“We need to investigate the power of Nphet and how they made decisions. We need to investigate the lack of proper democratic oversight of their decisions and those of the government. Civil rights were massively impeded at the time, with movement often dependent on Vaccine Passes that meant little in terms of transmission of Covid. People were prevented from attending funerals of family members and many died in hospitals with little no family contact. We have to investigate the lack of north south cooperation when it was needed. The €20m of ventilators that never worked must be also investigated.
“It would be impossible for any government to get everything right in the middle of a pandemic. But we need to work out what decisions were beneficial and which ones caused societal damage. There must be accountability for waste. The self-interest of a government just before a general election should not be the determine the terms of reference a wishy washy Covid Evaluation.”
