The South Belfast MLA stated: "We have no question that the First Minister and deputy First Minister are sincere in wanting to work with the families of the bereaved and others to address the evident failings in the Executive's response to the Covid-19 Inquiry, but the fact is an 'inter-departmental committee' is totally insufficient to address that significant deficiencies found in how the pandemic was handled in Northern Ireland by government, including in the very system of government itself.
"What we have already seen in response to Module 1 of the inquiry is entirely unimaginative and does not address the core failings identified by Baroness Hallett and her team. We have to be very clear that families were left bereaved and that people were left suffering detrimental impacts from the pandemic on a scale which did not need to happen because the very structures of government that we have were insufficient to deal with an emergency on this scale.
"The Inquiry identifies clearly that we need much more collegiate Executive decision-making headed from the Executive Office itself, and we need most of all to end a system of 'cross-community voting' which amounts to sectarian vetoes, which in one incident caused a re-opening contrary to advice which saw cases rise by 25 per cent.
"It is simply not sufficient to let a Committee tell us that this is just how things are in Northern Ireland. What’s required is meaningful change so that the next emergency is not as detrimental to the public as the last pandemic was. That will require independent input and real imagination, not just further bureaucratic blockage."
"What we have already seen in response to Module 1 of the inquiry is entirely unimaginative and does not address the core failings identified by Baroness Hallett and her team. We have to be very clear that families were left bereaved and that people were left suffering detrimental impacts from the pandemic on a scale which did not need to happen because the very structures of government that we have were insufficient to deal with an emergency on this scale.
"The Inquiry identifies clearly that we need much more collegiate Executive decision-making headed from the Executive Office itself, and we need most of all to end a system of 'cross-community voting' which amounts to sectarian vetoes, which in one incident caused a re-opening contrary to advice which saw cases rise by 25 per cent.
"It is simply not sufficient to let a Committee tell us that this is just how things are in Northern Ireland. What’s required is meaningful change so that the next emergency is not as detrimental to the public as the last pandemic was. That will require independent input and real imagination, not just further bureaucratic blockage."