Taoiseach Simon Harris has defended the planned evaluation of the State's response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking this morning Mr Harris said it was important to establish what went well, and what did not.
Opposition parties and patient campaigners have expressed concern that the evaluation will have no legal powers.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald criticised what she called the Government's "late-in-the-day and weak" review of its pandemic response.
In a statement she said that powers of compellability may be needed to get closure and transparency for the many bereaved families.
"What the Government is proposing does not have the confidence of many bereaved families. They need to know that this will not be a whitewash.
"It is essential that the Covid review is independent and empowered to establish what happened. This does not appear to be the Government's approach.
"There is significant concern that the Covid review will not have the necessary powers to establish all of the important facts."
Labour leader Ivana Bacik has described the Government's Covid evaluation as "tokenistic" and "very late in the day".
She said she welcomes the move to some form of examination, but she needs to see exactly what the Government is proposing and whether there will be public hearings.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has said that there is no doubt that the Government is seeking to avoid transparency in its planned Covid-19 evaluation.
He said that unless there is a judge-led and fully public inquiry, that has the power to compel people and papers, it will be a toothless exercise.
Mr Tóibín said that the thousands of individuals who lost loved ones during the pandemic in such a horrendous situation have a right to seek the truth.
Mr Harris described the evaluation as an important step forward, adding that "any extra advice or assistance or powers" its independent chair believes is needed "Government will absolutely keep an open mind on".
Professor Anne Scott and her panel would decide how best it was conducted, the Taoiseach said, adding that it was also important to look forward in terms of learnings that could be applied to future pandemic preparedness.
He said what the evaluation was trying to achieve was an in-depth look at a wide variety of areas and how the Covid pandemic impacted them including nursing homes, businesses and the education sector.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Additional reporting: Sandra Hurley
