Former Northern Ireland first minister Arlene Foster gives evidence at UK Covid-19 inquiry

Former first minister Arlene Foster has told the Covid-19 inquiry the UK Government should have done more to ensure Northern Ireland was prepared for a pandemic while the Stormont institutions were down prior to 2020.

Baroness Foster, giving evidence in London, was asked about how the absence of government here impacted on the ability to plan for a health emergency.

"I think there was a reduced resilience and as I've said I believe the Westminster politicians who were in charge of Northern Ireland ostensibly from a sovereignty point of view at that time should have been made aware of that difficulty and should have acted," she said.

"Because if there is a gap in resilience in part of the United Kingdom, surely that should concern the government of the UK in terms of where there are gaps whether that's in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland."

The former first minister said when Covid struck there was a great fear and a panic which ensued.

She added: "It was felt there was a need to lock down in a particular way. I do not think that enough consideration was given to the impact, the non-health impact, and there were many health impacts as well that were not foreseen.

"The devastating impact that Covid had on so many families in Northern Ireland stays with me because it was a devastating impact, many people lost loved ones in devastating circumstances that have been set out by the bereaved families' statement.

"I want to take this opportunity to give them my condolences and my sympathies."

The former permanent secretary for the Department of Health, Richard Pengelly, is also due to appear before the UK Covid Inquiry on Tuesday.

The inquiry examining how prepared the nation was ahead of the coronavirus pandemic which struck in early 2020.

Northern Ireland's Executive collapsed in January 2017 and was not restored until January 2020.

Then-first minister Baroness Foster, along with former deputy first minister Michelle O'Neill and former health minister Robin Swann, were the most high profile Stormont ministers leading the Covid response.

Ms O'Neill is due to give evidence to the inquiry on Wednesday, while Mr Swann gave evidence last week.

Lead counsel to the inquiry Hugo Keith asked Baroness Foster if she agreed that the absence of a Stormont executive in those years had left Northern Ireland's public services in a "state of decay and stagnation".

She said: "There were no ministers in place during that time.

"I think when you look at the fact that the Northern Ireland Office took a policy decision not to intervene at that time but instead leave Northern Ireland without any ministerial cover was something that I feel I need to comment on."

The former first minister also said she had been proud of the response to the pandemic from the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the health service.

However, she said she was unsure if any amount of planning would have had Northern Ireland "fit for purpose" to deal with the scale and nature of the pandemic.

She added: "The number one risk on the risk register across the UK was for a flu pandemic and what came towards us was not a flu pandemic but a very transmittable disease in the community.

"Therefore the need to scale up and have the capability to deal with that was something we had to dig very deep into very quickly."

She also referred to the Bengoa Report, which was designed to transform the health service in Northern Ireland, which was delivered to ministers in 2016.

Baroness Foster said: "As a result of the Executive collapsing in January 2017 the leadership required to take those reforms forward was not present for three years and then because of the pandemic again those reforms have not been able to be taken forward and now we are in a situation where we have a report from 2016 which has not been implemented."

It comes after Chief Medical Officer Sir Michael McBride gave evidence on Monday.

He said the absence of Stormont ministers had a significant impact on Northern Ireland's preparedness for the Covid-19 pandemic.

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