Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 11 May 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and Covid-19 Vaccines: Discussion

Photo of Louise O'ReillyLouise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in this morning and for the information they have shared with us. I will have to leave briefly to speak in the Chamber but I will be back. We have a rota system, so I hope I will also be able to contribute in on the second round.

I am struck by the words of Mr. Clarken. He stated:

We are over two years into the Covid-19 pandemic and huge levels of vaccine inequity persist. Just 13% of people in low-income countries have received two doses, compared with 75% of people in high-income countries. Less than 1% of people in low-income countries are boosted, compared with over 60% of people here in Ireland.

Clearly, there is an issue, which cannot be explained away with words because the facts illustrate that it is a major problem. We all believe, I am sure, that nobody is safe until everybody is safe. We keep saying that but we need to give that some meaning. If we say nobody is safe until everybody is safe, it has to have some substance.

I have done a small amount of reading on this. From what I can see, people with much more knowledge of IP law than I have argue that a TRIPS waiver is necessary and proportion. It clears the IP barriers and facilitates increased supply and development of technologies, etc.

Given the figures I have outlined and the evidence given by Professor McMahon on the protection of income, will Mr. O'Connor explain how a TRIPS waiver would be detrimental to innovation, particularly given that a TRIPS waiver was not detrimental to innovation when the generic production of HIV-AIDS drugs was finally allowed? Mr. O'Connor seems to be suggesting that there is some sort of an administrative problem and that the problem is not vaccines but vaccinations. I believe it is a little more complicated than that. I ask Mr. O'Connor to outline how the TRIPS waiver would be detrimental to innovation given that the evidence available in relation to HIV-AIDS drugs suggests it would not.

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