David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of the decision of the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, yesterday regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine. Obviously, this is a matter for NIAC in terms of the public health measure and putting safety first. I have no problem with that. It is more the implications of the decision. We need to hear from the HSE and NIAC next week that they have a plan to mitigate this decision because we do not want this to interrupt in any way the roll-out. We know how important the vaccine roll-out will be. We will deal with this issue in this session with the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, in the context of the impact the roll-out will have on allowing us to make decisions on reopening, outdoor dining and other outdoor activities, so this is very important. I am not satisfied at all with the responses we have got from the Minister for Health in the Dáil in recent weeks. He is not presenting a plan. He is not presenting timeframes or targets. We have the HSE in next week and we have NIAC, and they need to come in with a plan. I am asking in advance of this hearing next week that we write to them and ask them for a very detailed note and a plan that assures us that we can mitigate this because it is obviously a serious development. When we have them in next week, they need to come in with a plan and give it to us in advance of the hearing.