Government seeks international expert to chair Covid inquiry 

Former HSE chief Paul Reid warned over the weekend, that the inquiry could become politicised coming so close to a general election.

The Government is seeking an international expert to chair the long-promised Covid inquiry.

It is understood that a long-list of names has been drawn up with many of these individuals coming from a health or medical background.

However, the coalition is eager that the review into how the pandemic was handled and what learnings might come out of if should not be overly health-focused and would prefer to appoint a chair who has expertise in another area.

Government sources have also said that a person from overseas, and perhaps even outside of Europe, would be preferred to chair the inquiry.

However, the three coalition leaders have yet to discuss the terms of reference of the inquiry, despite committing to hold a probe within the lifetime of the Government.

Former HSE chief Paul Reid warned over the weekend, that the inquiry could become politicised coming so close to a general election.

"I guess if you are a minister in Government now, it's probably not what you'd want coming up to an election ahead."

He added: "The timing of it is always important, I think it would have been wrong to have it too early, things were raw for people." 

Mr Reid added that it is "now due".

"A global pandemic we weren't prepared for, we now need to look back on what would we keep, what do we need to keep in place and invest in, what things would we do differently.

"But it should be done in an environment or a culture that is not a 'gottcha' one, I think the UK one is quite appalling in the way that it is being managed and led."

Mr Reid who joined the heath service in 2019, around six months before the pandemic, said: "It was a very tough time, a very difficult time for the country, but for those of us who were working in the health system it was a very inspiring time to see how the country galvanized around the supports, how we had a very cohesive approach from the Government, from the public, from business.

"The simple things we were asking people to do, everybody was doing it and I do believe it made a difference in people's lives and saved lives," he told Newstalk radio.

Earlier this month the Taoiseach said it was the intention to have the terms of reference ready within weeks.

"The Government has made it clear, the three parties in Government and our Programme for Government in terms of a review in relation to the pandemic, I think that's a sensible thing to do," Mr Harris said.

"It is the intention of Government to hold a review, and we expect to be in a position to finalise the terms of reference in the coming weeks."

Tánaiste Micheál Martin also stressed the importance of carrying out an evaluation to inform the response to any future pandemic or another emergency.

"I think we have to learn lessons. We have to have an objective look at how we did but a lot of work has happened over the last number of months. I think it's a matter of selecting people, someone to head up such an evaluation and take it from there," he said.