Northern Ireland's former health minister has finished his evidence session - so what were the headlines from him?

• Northern Ireland's health service suffered without political leadership at Stormont during the three years preceding the Covid pandemic, when the power-sharing government was not functioning, he said
• Decisions that could have improved the health system were "ducked" and the lack of reform and investment had an "adverse effect" on how Northern Ireland could deal with the pandemic
• Top health and science officials in Northern Ireland had limited involvement in the UK-wide response to the pandemic, with Swann saying they should have been allowed more input and been "equal" partners

With that, we are pausing our live coverage. Thanks for joining us.

After a brief hearing, Robin Swann has finished giving his evidence to the inquiry.

Next week, it will hear from more people who were involved in the planning for Northern Ireland's response to the pandemic.

• On Monday 10 July, Northern Ireland's chief medical officer Prof Sir Michael McBride will be answering questions from 14:00 BST
• Baroness Arlene Foster, who was Northern Ireland's First Minister during the Covid-19 pandemic, will speak on Tuesday 11 July
• The department of health's former permanent secretary Richard Pengelly will also attend the inquiry on Tuesday afternoon
• Michelle O'Neill, former Deputy First Minister and the former health minister from 2016 to 2017 will give evidence on Wednesday 12 July
• She will be followed by the chief executive of Northern Ireland's Public Health Agency, Aidan Dawson later on Wednesday afternoon

Swann says Northern Ireland officials should have been allowed to give more input to UK-wide bodies that were dealing with the Covid pandemic.

His remark comes in response to questioning from a barrister representing the group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Northern Ireland.

Image source, Covid Inquiry

The barrister suggests that there was a "worrying lack of scientific input" from Northern Ireland's into the UK's preparation for a pandemic.

He states that Northern Ireland officials had limited rights to speak at meetings of UK scientific bodies.

Swann says Northern Ireland "should be an equal partner in regards to what advice, guidance or guidance can be sought".

Swann is asked about whether consideration should have been given for joint exercises to have taken place on a North-South basis between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland's health departments.

He says there would be some benefit, and says that there is already cooperation between the two jurisdictions on a "professional and operation level".

He references work the joint work of emergency services, and the establishment of a cancer centre at Londonderry's Altnagelvin Hospital which is used by those on both sides of the border.

Swann specifically credits how the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service were involved at a suspected gas explosion at a petrol station in Creeslough in County Donegal in October 2022.

He adds that there was a request by Northern Ireland's First Minister and Deputy First Minister to establish the British-Irish Council to respond to the pandemic.

Short-term decisions were preferred over long-term planning in Northern Ireland's health system, according to Swann.

He says the failure to invest in and reform it had an adverse effect on how Northern Ireland was able to respond to the pandemic.

"When I came into office in January 2020 we had the worst waiting lists in the United Kingdom - we still have the worst waiting lists," adds the former health minister.

"There were... decisions that were ducked, that were missed, that could've been taken should we have had a functioning assembly."

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Image source, Covid Inquiry

Swann is asked about the Emergency Response plan which was last updated in January 2019.

This was a year before Swann became Northern Ireland's health minister.

It was signed by the department of health's permanent secretary Richard Pengelly and the chief medical officer, Dr Michael McBride.

This was because at this time, there were no government ministers in place at Stormont due to political stalemate.

Swann says that it is an operational document, so it can be operated and enacted in the absence of ministers.

Swann became Northern Ireland's health minister in January 2020 after a period of three years in which the power-sharing government at Stormont hadn't been working due to a fallout between the main political parties.

Civil servants had been running Northern Ireland's public services in the absence of politicians.

Swann explains that the health service suffered from a lack of reform, strategic direction and long-term planning during that political hiatus.

He tells the inquiry that his first job after his appointment was to deal with healthcare workers' industrial action over pay.

Before beginning his evidence, Swann gives his condolences to all those bereaved during the pandemic.

He also expresses his gratitude to the healthcare workers in Northern Ireland during the pandemic.

He says he does so as the first politician from Northern Ireland to give evidence at the inquiry.

The deaths of more than 5,000 people in Northern Ireland have been linked to Covid.

Records held by Northern Ireland's official statistics body show that between 19 March 2020 and 23 June this year the virus was mentioned on the death certificates of 5,325 people.

Image source, PA Media

Northern Ireland stopped recording new cases of the virus in May last year. Up until that point there had been 713,294 positive tests since the start of the pandemic.

More than 1.43 million people out of a population of about 1.9 million have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine.

And there is still the occasional dose being given - one person received a Covid vaccine yesterday.

Image source, Covid Inquiry

Northern Ireland's former health minister Robin Swann is about to answer questions at the inquiry.

He was in the role from January 2020, about three months before the pandemic began, until Stormont's power-sharing government collapsed in February 2022.

He is the first politician from Northern Ireland to come before the inquiry.

Image source, Reuters

Former health minister Robin Swann will be the first Northern Ireland politician to give evidence at the Covid inquiry.

But this will not be the first time that NI will be mentioned.

Lawyer Ronan Lavery KC, who represents Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice NI, told the inquiry Northern Ireland was 18 months behind the rest of the UK in pandemic preparedness.

That is because a large part of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, which puts provisions around civil contingencies in place, did not apply to Northern Ireland.

He also said the problem was not just devolution, but at that time, the NI executive and the Assembly were in suspension.

Mr Lavery also said Northern Ireland did not attend important UK-wide pandemic meetings before March 2020, and there was a "disconnect" between Stormont and Westminster.

A full list of issues can be found here.

This public inquiry was launched by Boris Johnson in May 2021 and it will cover decision-making in Westminster and the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

You might be wondering what the overall aim of a public inquiry is? Well, it aims to respond to "public concern" about events - in this case.

Any inquiry has the power to make people appear as witnesses, and to provide evidence. Inquiries are expected to publish conclusions and may make recommendations.

Former Northern Ireland health minister Robin Swann was due to start giving evidence at 14:00 BST.

But it's delayed briefly as Welsh official Reg Kilpatrick answers some questions.

We'll let you know when Swann is up.

That'll be the question former health minister Robin Swann is expected to answer at today's hearing.

The first phase of the inquiry is looking at the preparedness of devolved institutions in the lead up to the Covid pandemic.

But from 2017 to 2020, Northern Ireland's power-sharing government was not functioning after Sinn Féin withdrew from the executive.

This meant there were no government ministers in place for almost three years.

We've already heard from permanent secretary of the Executive Office, Dr Denis McMahon, this morning.

He says the absence of ministers in the years leading up to the pandemic left officials feeling like they were "flying blind".

He also says Stormont's collapse did have an impact on emergency planning.

He describes ministers as "fundamental to the operation of government" and their absence was "unacceptable".

Image source, PA Media

The inquiry is looking how prepared Westminster and the devolved institutions were for the pandemic.

Of course, one issue that dominated government agendas and news cycles was Brexit.

So, did this affect Northern Ireland too?

According to a lawyer for the Executive Office, Brexit had a bigger effect on pandemic contingency planning arrangements in Northern Ireland than anywhere else in the UK.

Plans for Operation Yellowhammer, the government's plans for a no deal Brexit, had "very significant plans" on planning for emergencies, and unique circumstances in Northern Ireland made this more pronounced, he said.

The inquiry also heard the model of Northern Ireland's devolution in Northern Ireland was "radically different" to elsewhere in the UK.

This meant the Executive Office had responsibility for "civil contingencies and emergency planning", which included the "wider consequences" of disease outbreaks such as Covid.

Image source, PA Media

Three years of political deadlock ended in Northern Ireland in 2020 after a deal was struck to restore political institutions.

When the power-sharing coalition executive returned, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) chose the health department and put former party leader Robin Swann in charge.

But, just three months later, the first-time minister would be tackling Northern Ireland's response to the global pandemic.

Swann was first elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2011 for north Antrim, and became the UUP's chief whip the following year.

He was elected unopposed as party leader in 2017, the year in which political institutions collapsed, and held that position for two years before resigning in November 2019.

In the 2022 assembly election, Swann topped the poll in north Antrim. His success, in part, was attributed to his work during the pandemic.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the UK's Covid inquiry, on the 16th day of public hearings.

This phase is one of six and is examining how prepared the UK was for the pandemic.

From 10:00, we're expecting to hear from Reg Kilpatrick, director general of Covid-19 Crisis Co-ordination, and Dr Denis McMahon, permanent secretary of the Executive Office NI.

From 14:00, former health minister for Northern Ireland, Robin Swann, is expected to speak.

We will begin text coverage of this afternoon’s hearing at 14:00 BST, but you can watch this morning’s proceedings live at the top of this page by clicking the Play button.

Read more about the Covid inquiry in our explainer here.