Ms Barbara Nolan:

Before I do, I will address a question I missed from the previous speaker on the next steps in regard to the Northern Ireland protocol. The Commission and the UK Government have been in constant contact over the past months. Once the College of Commissioners approves the new proposals today, Commission officials will travel to London to begin immediate detailed discussions with UK officials on the four non-papers that will come out today. That will be the start, we hope and expect, of a period of intense discussions with the UK Government over the coming weeks. The idea is to move immediately on the package we are producing today. To be clear about the timescale, there is no long wait involved here; we are moving as fast as we possibly can.

On Deputy Ó Murchú's question about vaccines, the EU, as I have said, has been falsely accused of not being in favour of vaccines for the world. On the contrary, we have been the most generous in terms of giving vaccines to other parts of the word. We are also trying to develop, with the United States, the technology for the development of vaccines in Africa, for instance, so that the manufacturing capacity is there and, in time, the continent will be able to produce its own vaccines. We are trying very hard to make sure it is not just a question of giving donations. It is also a question of making sure countries are able to produce their own vaccines.