Dr. Tony Holohan:

Professor Butler might want to comment on this but our role is to provide advice and guidance to the Irish Government, through our Minister, around decisions that get taken in the best interests of the Irish population. Obviously that is the role that we carry out and we take seriously and so on. On the point the Senator is making in terms of the global situation, of course we understand the nature of infectious diseases in a global context. Until we achieve global control of this disease there is still going to be a risk to every part of the globe, and that remains the case, including the emergence of variants. In particular, we are concerned about some of the progress that has not been made in some wealthier countries, where vaccination uptake has not been as good as it has been here. It is a bit like a person half-completing a course of antibiotics, which increases the risk of the emergence of resistance. The issue of a half-vaccinated population presents a particular challenge because it is not going to suppress infection and is going to continue to offer an opportunity to, and perhaps select out, those viral strains that have a competitive advantage in terms of vaccine escape. We are concerned about all of those kinds of issues but our role and responsibility, in the context of all of that, is to give advice and guidance on how we maximise protection of the Irish population.