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
Mr. Oliver O'Connor:
There is no disagreement. We agree that we want to see vaccines developed, produced and delivered to the people who need them in Africa and globally.
The issue is finding the most effective way to do that. We believe, and the evidence so far supports this - that the IP rights, such as they are without a waiver, are not acting as a barrier to the production to sufficient capacity in time to meet demand, given the capacity locally in many countries to administer vaccines. The industry will continue to do that.