Rutte, Schoof, De Jonge set for second week of Dutch COVID-19 inquiry hearings
The Dutch parliamentary COVID-19 inquiry committee will enter its second full week of hearings next week, focusing on how the country’s coronavirus response was organized. Former Prime Minister Mark Rutte, ex-civil servant Dick Schoof, and former Health Minister Hugo de Jonge are among those scheduled to testify.
The Dutch parliamentary COVID-19 inquiry committee, formally the “parlementaire enquêtecommissie Corona,” had said the hearings are intended to review the government’s organization of the pandemic response, the decision-making behind key policies, and the impact of the crisis on sectors including health care, education, and public order.
The schedule begins Monday with Hubert Bruls, mayor of Nijmegen since 2012 and chair of the Security Council during the pandemic. Later that day, Mark Roscam Abbing, who previously served as director-general for Society and COVID-19, is also due to appear.
On Wednesday, former Medical Care Minister Tamara van Ark and Wouter Koolmees (Social Affairs and Employment) will answer questions from the committee.
Friday’s session is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. with testimony from Schoof, who served during the pandemic as secretary-general at the Ministry of Justice and Security.
Former Prime Minister Rutte is also scheduled to appear before the committee and is expected to testify twice over the course of the inquiry.
The same applies to former National Institute for Public Health and the Environment director Jaap van Dissel, former Health Minister Hugo de Jonge, and former Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus. Van Dissel has already given an earlier testimony on the opening day of hearings.
