Written Ministerial Statement
The content of this written ministerial statement is as received at the time from the Minister. It has not been subject to the official reporting (Hansard) process.
The Executive Office - Publication of the The Executive Second Response to the COVID-19 Module 1 Report Recommendations
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Published at 3.30pm on Friday 18 July 2025
Mrs O’Neill (The First Minister) and Mrs Little-Pengelly (The deputy First Minister): Module 1 of the Covid-19 Inquiry examined the UK’s resilience and preparedness for the pandemic and the report identifies improvements that could be made to civil contingencies arrangements.
Baroness Hallet has requested that update reports are published every six months to allow progress against the recommendations to be monitored.
An Executive 2nd response providing an update on actions to implement recommendations in the Module 1 Report was published today on the Executive Office internet page: https://www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/publications/executive-2nd-response-covid-19-module-1-report-july-2025
The Executive remains committed to ensuring that these lessons are used to inform preparedness, not just for a future pandemic, but all emergencies that could impact on society here.
Our response outlines work that has been undertaken and provides detail on next steps to ensure we deliver the improvements intended by the recommendations.
We have initiated an engagement programme with a diverse range of stakeholders to work towards the successful implementation of the recommendations. This has included consultations across departments, external partners and community groups.
Future modules of the Inquiry will delve deeper into decision-making and governance structures that were in place during the pandemic including those of Northern Ireland. Most importantly, the impact of the pandemic and our response will also be examined. Recommendations on these critical aspects will be made in future Covid-19 Inquiry modular reports.
