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Public Investigation of the Handling of Covid Crisis Needed

Aontú Leader & Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has called on a public investigation in Ireland into the handling of the Covid pandemic focusing in on the number of Covid-19 deaths, the fact that the majority of these deaths came from Covid caught in Nursing Homes and in Hospitals, the Vaccine strategy, and the longest Work Place lockdown in Europe.


An Teachta Tóibín:


“As the country emerges from Covid and the Lockdown many will simply seek to get back to normal life. This is as to be expected. The main focus of the state should be to get the country reopened as soon as is possible”.


“The country has just gone through a massive catastrophe. Lives and livelihoods have been lost in their thousands. There is no doubt that in a live crisis situation mistakes will be made. It would be impossible to get everything right”.


“However, many decisions made in Ireland have been radically different than decisions made in practically every country on the planet. Many of these decisions have had enormous costs. It’s imperative that we analyse these decisions, learn from our mistakes and make sure we are better prepared in future”.


“One of the most startling facts that has come to light is that 56% of the people who died with Covid in the State contracted the virus either in hospital or in nursing homes. The HSE have confirmed this week that roughly 750 people who caught the virus while in hospital have died, and we know that more than 2,000 of those who died from Covid-19 were nursing home residents. It is truly astonishing”.


“While the country was shut down for most of the last 14 months the epicentre of deaths was in 2 locations, run or regulated by the state. This week an answer to a Parliamentary Question I posed indicated that so far 5 families already have brought cases against the state in relation to these deaths”.


“There is a catalogue of decisions in Nursing Homes and Hospitals over the last year that need to be analysed, from closing and reopening Nursing Homes to visitors in the early stages to ignoring the 74,000 people who applied to Be on Call for Ireland project when Hospital and Nursing Home staff were swamped”.


“The Government has imposed well over 220 days of workplace closures. This is the longest lockdown in Europe. This has imposed an enormous cost to society. Hundreds of thousands of people have been pushed into poverty and unemployment” €40 billion will be added to our National Debt reducing significantly future investment from housing, health, transport and education. The decision to shut down house building in the jaws of a housing crisis for so long means that 10,000 homes have not been built this year”.


“Our Vaccine strategy struggled significantly due to a lack of a centralised data base of patients and the government rolled a new vaccine administration infrastructure and ignored much of the pharmacies that normally administer flue jabs. Cancer screenings and treatment have been suspended for months on end and are still not operating at full tilt. A tidal wave of more advanced cancers are not about to hit the health service”.


“There needs to be transparency, accountability and truth. We need to learn serious lessons from this crisis and right now. We need to make sure we much better prepared in the future”
 

By Aontú Press | 13 May, 2021



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The Irish political system is radically broken



In Ireland the vast majority of elected representatives put a finger in the air to check which way the political wind is blowing. They have one eye on their leaders – seeking brownie points – and another eye keeping their seat safe. If elected reps shut up and do as they’re told, they are promoted; if they stand up for what they believe in, they are demoted. No wonder we have the political class we have. No wonder one point one billion euro is being buried in a hole under the National Children’s Hospital and that Stormont is in stalemate.



Throughout Ireland, many people are now afraid to say what they feel, many are afraid to respectfully engage on a range of different topics. Many feel there is a new censorship and a new political correctness in Ireland, that opposition to the establishment is being deleted.



Respectful opposition is not the enemy. Respectful opposition is a critical element of a functional democracy. Aontú will have the backbone to stand up, without fear, for you.




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