Health

Simon Harris: Covid inquiry terms of reference expected before Cabinet ‘shortly’

Taoiseach also said delay in getting Covid-19 inquiry underway was needed to get the terms of reference right so it did not stray into ‘all sorts of things’, as happened in Britain

Simon Harris was health minister at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis. He said the format of the Covid inquiry should be one that ‘enables people to be transparent, to be forthcoming’.

The terms of reference for Ireland’s Covid inquiry are to be brought to Cabinet “shortly”, according to Simon Harris, who said the format should encourage transparency.

A review of how Ireland handled the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to analyse the government’s response, how hospitals and nursing homes coped and the effect it had on society and the economy.

The government had planned to establish the inquiry in 2023, but Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said it was delayed due to a series of “unpredictable events”.