Mr. Jim Clarken:

I could not agree with the Senator more strongly. We are constantly being bombarded with messages that it is too complex, too difficult and cannot be done or that it will collapse the entire global system, medicines will never be developed again and the world will not benefit. The Senator's example is the perfect example of what was done about HIV and AIDS.

After many years of campaigning by Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF, and many others, the world forced the global pharmaceutical industry to allow general production. After the loss of millions who should not have died, it transformed the lives of millions more and still does to this day. That is an example of how these things can work. The suggestion here is that if there is an agreement on TRIPS, it will collapse the system in future. It is important to remember that TRIPS is part of the rules-based system. It is built into the agreement and is there for a reason. This is the reason. We have an extraordinary, once-in-a-generation health crisis. We have the tools available to us to create a temporary waiver. It is important to remember that the waiver described is temporary. It can transform the production and roll-out of vaccines for the rest of the world, while those of us sitting comfortably here have been vaccinated.

There is no strong counterargument to stand up to that. The examples given prove that it works. We can do it and support developing countries in the roll-out. As Dr. Kelly mentioned, we have seen just how effective developing countries are at rolling out vaccines. I worked on vaccine distribution in remote parts of rural South Sudan. People queued for days. There is a significant appetite. The hesitancy is no stronger than it is anywhere else in the world. We need to address these issues. The tools and the solution are staring us in the face. It is time for Ireland and the EU to move their position to support the TRIPS waiver so that everybody who needs to be vaccinated can be and we can finally start to bring this pandemic to an end.