In the past four years, 9,500 Irish people have died from Covid, of whom 89% were aged over 65. Countries such as Italy, France, Sweden and the UK are working on their inquiries into Covid, how it happened and how to prevent it from happening again. The Tánaiste said yesterday that the Government had unfinished business. Indeed it has, and he referred to it in his answer to a question from Sinn Féin. Will the Government commit to publishing the terms of reference of the Covid inquiry into those deaths in Ireland before it is dissolved, so that the people protesting outside this House, Care Champions and the thousands of families who grieve and remain concerned about the lack of truth and transparency about what happened, for example, in Dealgan House, know the truth? This is essential for the credibility of this Government, the Minister for Health in particular, who avoids answering that question.

I acknowledge and recognise how difficult is has been for families generally who lost loved ones during Covid, but particularly for families of nursing home residents who died during the pandemic, which, let us not forget, presented the country and the world with one of the greatest and most wide-ranging public health challenges internationally. This was a global pandemic, the likes of which we had not witnessed since 1918 with the Spanish flu. There is a need for a comprehensive evaluation of how the country managed Covid-19. We are very close to that. There were issues, as I said before, in identifying a chair for the inquiry. I hope we will be able to publish the terms of reference before any event may happen in the time ahead.

I would welcome that very much. It will not happen though.

There is a broader issue in terms of a specific home. That is something people may have issues about in terms of how to work that.