Shape of Covid-19 inquiry begins to emerge – but will it satisfy Opposition and public?

Nearly four years ago, Covid-19 swept through the globe and became the only story on the political agenda. In Ireland, the Government assumed extraordinary powers that curtailed citizens’ freedom, shuttering the country with lockdowns that proved lengthy, costly and divisive.

Ireland would go on to spend a €17.1 billion on the response to Covid-19 during the first 12 months alone, propping up businesses and employees and pumping money into a health service stretched beyond breaking point.

After a number of different waves of the virus, and as the country wearied of onerous restrictions, it became inevitable that an inquiry would have to be held not only to examine how the political and public health decisions were made, but whether they were the right ones.

After being promised for years, the shape of the long-awaited inquiry into the State’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic is finally starting to emerge.

The inquiry will likely be composed of a panel of experts, led by a chair.

Finding the right inquiry members will not be easy – ideally they will be leaders in their field who are also independent, and they must be knowledgeable about the Irish context without having ever cast any aspersions or opinions on the general response to the pandemic.

[ Inquiry into Ireland’s handling of Covid-19 pandemic to hear from families of those who died ]

For example, what would become of a panel candidate who was found to have commented on the sometimes rocky relationship between Leo Varadkar and former chief medical officer Tony Holohan, or the power dynamic between the National Public Health Emergency Team and Government? Would choosing a chair from outside of Ireland get around this?

Inquiry members will also be expected to be in place for up to 18 months – and in reality probably longer – a significant commitment and a heavy workload.

The exact mechanism through which the inquiry takes place has not yet been finalised but senior officials have examined the pros and cons of a commission structure, a tribunal structure, or a scoping inquiry. There will likely be some scoping element before the main body of work. It is clear the Government wants it to be a non-adversarial process – Varadkar previously said it would be a search for truth and not a “witch-hunt”.

That may be the case, but the process itself will stand or fall on whether citizens and the political system believe it has been an honest, sober, independent and transparent process that delivers a verdict that could ultimately make uncomfortable reading at times for the three governing parties.

In the coming weeks Opposition leaders will be briefed on the terms of reference for the inquiry. They will want to know the legal underpinning to the inquiry, and whether senior figures who were at the fore of the pandemic response will be entitled to lawyer up. We know now that there will be a public element to the inquiry where a person can make a verbal or written statement, but how much of the overall inquiry will be held in public? Frontline workers who bore the brunt of the toughest days will also want to know that they will have their voices heard, as will families who lost members in nursing homes, hospitals and the community.

There will be questions too around the cost of this process, whether legal or otherwise. Ministers want the inquiry to be focused on learning lessons to enhance the response to future pandemics, rather than a finger-pointing exercise. The public will likely expect any inquiry to shy away from neither.

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