Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I confirm that I am in Leinster House.

I thank Dr. Glynn for joining us today. I wish to ask a number of questions. Like others, I had planned on asking about the AstraZeneca vaccine, but it has been well covered and I thank the witnesses for answering the questions thus far.

I wish to mention the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, which is something that I have delved into over the past number of weeks. How much engagement does NPHET have with the centre on a weekly basis? The centre is based in Stockholm but I was alarmed to discover that it only employs 300 people and its annual operational budget is €50 million when compared with its US equivalent and co-ordinating health body that has an annual budget of €12 billion. Have there been many weekly interactions? Have deficiencies been found in the information supplied by the ECDC in a co-ordinating capacity across the European Union bloc?