Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank everybody for their contributions so far. We are all appreciative of the work which has been done in the last nine months regarding this public health emergency. This situation poses many challenges for our public health system, as well as enormous logistical issues concerning rolling this vaccine out. All the indications are that the majority of the Irish public have confidence in the vaccine and will want to access and avail of it when it is first rolled out.

In respect of the vaccine itself, and oversight, enormous amounts of public money have gone into the research and development of the vaccine. Billions of euro, dollars and many other currencies have gone into private entities conducting research on this vaccine. That is welcome and shows that in today's world the socialising of medicine, when we work together rather than against one another, brings better results than competition.

Regarding the vaccination database, I am not sure who might be able to answer this question. However, on RTÉ's "Prime Time" programme last night, I heard Mr. Paul Reid stating that a vaccination database will be rolled out and there will also be a contingency plan. On the vaccination database, therefore, which I think is the cutting edge of this process and the vehicle with which people will interact, who will be entering the data? Who will be capturing the required data for the database? Will there be an app on people's phones managing how they will engage with their medical professionals and how the vaccine can be accessed? Has that aspect been thought about? How is it envisaged that people will interact with the vaccination database in the civic and the medical spheres?