'Who is NPHET ultimately accountable to?' Questions on transparency during crisis raised in Dáil
Serious questions have been raised in the Dáil about transparency over major decisions being taken by the Government and senior health officials.
New Labour leader Alan Kelly said he was “seriously concerned about transparency in decision making in this crisis”.
Mr Kelly raised alarm as to the workings of the National Public Health Emergency Team, which is the primary body advising the government on its response to Covid-19.
In the Dáil, Mr Kelly said he looked up the membership of the NPHET and it seems to have grown substantially since it was set up from 13 to 45 members.
He asked did the Government agree to all the new members who joined it and if so where is this documented?
He demanded answers from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as to who appoints the members of NPHET.
“There is a huge volume of people on this committee now and no disagreements of any decisions are documented which is noteworthy," Mr Kelly said.
It is something I believe each member should consider as obviously all decisions will have a historical review as some stage. The issues arising in the nursing home sector being an obvious example.
Mr Kelly also asked the Dáil about why only notes are recorded of meetings and not detailed minutes.
“There is a difference. Minutes reflect the record of the meeting and must be agreed at the beginning of the next meeting. Notes could be a subjective view of what happened. Were all these notes agreed by all the participants after each meeting? Future Generations will want to know where people stood on decisions,” he said.
He asked why are notes or minutes no longer being published since the end of March.
"I would have expected that all minutes would be published continuously given the crisis we are facing. This isn’t acceptable, he said.
“For example, on the last published meeting note, under matters arising, it said they discussed a paper for childcare for health workers (March 31). It doesn’t say why the paper wasn’t agreed to. We cannot see transparently why?
This is an issue that the Government are still grappling with almost a month later?
He wanted to know how many subgroups are there now in existence under NPHET, there are 11 are listed in the National Action Plan.
There are little, or no minutes published for any of them.
“What are they doing, and can we see these minutes,” Mr Kelly asked.
Mr Kelly also posed the question that when Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan made the decision on the Late Late Show or thereabouts that we would have to get to 15,000 tests a day and 100,000 a week by May 5, did he do so with the agreement of the HSE who ultimately would be responsible for making such a testing regime possible in such a short space of time.
“I agree with it but I’m not sure it can be delivered by May 5 – but what I really want to know is how the decision was made and why was it made and stated publicly if the HSE didn’t feel they could deliver it? If we had minutes, of course, we could see this, but they don’t exist,” Mr Kelly said.
“Who is NPHET ultimately accountable to? Who makes the final decisions? Do NPHET have to consult with you or the Minister for Health before making formal announcements that affect all the citizens of this country?
"I presume they do. But how does that happen?”
Mr Kellly added that the ultimate decision making cannot be in the hands of the few. Elected office cannot be subservient even in this crisis.
In response, Mr Varadkar said he accepted the points Deputies are making about the need for greater transparency.
“But I ask for their understanding. People are busy and they are swamped.
"They are struggling to read their emails and to read the interesting and important documents that are being sent to them every day from people all over the country who want to help and make good suggestions,” he said.
This is a rapidly changing situation. Facts and data change by the day.
"Things we thought were true a few days ago may not be true today. Even our understanding of what the symptoms of the virus are has changed in recent weeks. The data changes on a daily basis and is very often out of date,” Mr Varadkar added.
