Nursing home charges and planning matters
The Taoiseach said statements on the first issue would be held next week and defended the Government’s handling of nursing home charges, saying the legal basis remained contested and there were still outstanding cases. He also said planning and enforcement issues concerning Deputy English were for Meath County Council, and addressed questions on Labour Party procedures and excess deaths.
The Business Committee, I think quite sensibly, has agreed that we will have statements next week on the first matter to be raised, which goes back to the 1970s. I think it is important that people should know the facts before they make statements. Nobody wants to come in here and make a statement and then find out that something they have said is incorrect. That can happen-----
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-----with regard to things that happened six, eight or ten years ago.
Some of the people who are laughing at me are people who had to change their own declarations on multiple occasions. It is a little much. Ministers want some time to look at documents and check the records before making statements. I am here twice a week and am happy to answer any questions the Deputy wants to put to me. I think the Joint Committee on Health is going to want to look into this too. If the Deputy's inference is that I signed off on any individual payments or was involved in any individual cases, that is not the case. No Minister would have been. That is simply not true.
Regarding Deputy English-----
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You authorised the policy.
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Deputy English has resigned as Minister of State. Anything to do with planning or enforcement law, as I have said, is a matter for Meath County Council.
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The internal procedures we have in our party are confidential and are internal matters, just as the Deputy's are. I know there are disciplinary matters under way in the Labour Party at the moment. I would not ask her questions about those in the Dáil.
With regard to Deputy Tóibín's question on excess deaths, I am aware that in Ireland and in a lot of countries there has been a significant increase in excess deaths this winter, even more so than was the case during the pandemic, or at least during the lockdowns. That is a matter of concern. I am going to seek the advice and opinion of the Chief Medical Officer, CMO, on it. It probably relates to the fact that RSV, influenza and Covid are all circulating at the moment, against the backdrop of reduced immunity because people were socially distancing during the lockdowns, and also because there was a lot of unmet health need during the lockdowns, which is now coming back at us, but that is just my impression. I agree that it needs some further consideration and I will ask the CMO for her view on it.