Families of some of those affected by Covid-19 have gathered to mark the sixth anniversary of the pandemic.
A memory wall was erected at the gates of Leinster House with the names of many who died in nursing homes.
The support group Care Champions Ireland is demanding full accountability and an independent statutory public inquiry.
Chairperson Majella Beattie said that people affected feel they are not being heard or seen and that loved ones who died were not statistics.
Watch: Rights of people in care 'were completely stripped' during pandemic
She said there needs to be a proper independent statutory inquiry, as the current evaluation is not fit for purpose.
Almost 10,000 people have died from or with Covid-19 in Ireland, according to the official figures.
Between 2020 and 2025, the number of deaths was 9,831 and this includes laboratory-confirmed cases, according to the HSE.
One of those was Eimer Fitzgerald's mother, who died in a nursing home.
She said that there was a policy in place whereby people were supposed to be able to have time with their loved ones at the end of life.
However, Ms Fitzgerald said it was only a guideline and was not implemented throughout the whole country.
She said she was personally affected by it when her mother died, and she was supposed to get a minimum of 15 minutes with her mother on visits.
"How sad, how lonely, how afraid did they feel at the end. This was a very bad death for people," she said.
Ms Fitzgerald said she was entitled to one in-person visit a week, for 15 minutes.
She said that when she got one of her 15-minute visits, her mother was unconscious and very near the end.
As she was leaving her mother, she said she was told that she had used her one weekly visit and not to look for any more.
Ms Fitzgerald received a phone call at a 1.45am saying her mother had passed away.
"I believe that my mother died alone and I will never be able to get over that," she said.
Six years on from the pandemic, campaigners also say an unknown number of people report suffering from the long term effects of infection, with Long Covid.
The independent non-statutory review of how Ireland managed the pandemic is continuing its work under Professor Anne Scott.
Earlier this year, it began a dedicated consultation survey on long-term residential care and its impacts on residents and bereaved families.
It is expected to produce its final report for the Government by the end of this year.
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
