Dr. Colm Henry:

Regarding Deputy Shortall's questions, I will start with the flu vaccine. As the Deputy pointed out, we purchased 1.4 million doses of the flu vaccine, which was an increase of 20% on last year. If we look at the pattern we will see that of the roughly 1.2 million doses distributed last year, approximately 1 million were administered. We are seeing an increase in purchasing power this year, and also a major increase in uptake, which is welcome. I emphasise to the Deputy that the at-risk groups have not changed. We have been careful to be consistent with our messaging to the public and to GPs and pharmacists that the vaccine must be confined and preserved for and administered to at-risk groups, as clearly defined by and in line with WHO recommendations.

Turning to the Deputy's question regarding whether we have enough flu vaccine, it is too early to say. I was on a call to members of the ICGP and there were mixed messages from the primary care communities. Some are reporting they have enough vaccine, while others are reporting they are running short. That is why we are now pausing to find information regarding what has happened to those doses of the vaccine which have been distributed but not yet recorded as administered. We are doing that so we can direct our remaining stocks for use with those priority groups.