I welcome Deputy Patricia Ryan back after her mishap.

I feel the Deputy's pain about waiting lists, I can say that much.

Losing a loved one is never easy but for those whose loved ones passed away during Covid in nursing homes and care facilities without their families around them, it was especially hard. Families were denied access to their loved ones as they died and they are still being denied answers in respect of their deaths. The huge trauma and mental distress caused to families and care workers in nursing homes and care facilities is still being felt today. These people deserve to be heard. As Sinn Féin spokesperson for older people, I have met many families and advocacy groups, including Care Champions. I have listened to their stories and their grief. They tell me that there must be a clear, transparent and impartial investigation with the direct involvement of the residents and the families affected. I welcome that the Government has spoken about having a public inquiry into this and I appreciate that but I ask that we have a date sooner rather than later.

We are confident we will have the memorandum and the terms of reference to the Cabinet in the next couple of weeks but then we will need to approve people to serve on the panel, to be the chair and to serve on the inquiry. We hope to make progress on that quite soon. There will be a public element to it and nursing homes will be covered. It will, of course, be complicated in certain circumstances such as where litigation is under way. I am not sure it will be able to undertake inquiries where other inquires are happening or where litigation is under way but we will work all that out.