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

My second question is on vaccination inequality and the call, particularly by the World Health Organization, for a people's vaccine. This week, there is a crucial vote on the suspension of patents and intellectual property rights and if that happens it will give the less developed countries access to vaccines. I hope that anybody on the health committee would agree with giving as many people as possible access to vaccines. If the suspension happens then it could free up pharmaceutical companies, particularly in the European Union, to make these vaccines and make them available to as many people as possible. That is important because the fewer people who are vaccinated then the more chance there is of variants and so forth. I am talking about a hypothetical situation and I hope that Ireland votes in favour of the suspension. If it happens would the Minister, as a member of Government, direct the pharmaceutical industry, which is quite wide in this country, to immediately ramp up production of a vaccine that is off patent?