Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I understand that. One of the reasons for this was that it was a sellers’ market at that point in the spring of 2020. One of the reasons, in turn, was that it turned out that we did not have any indigenous sources. Many people have raised with me the question as to how we arrived at a situation, not just in Ireland, but in Europe, and in particular western Europe, where we do not make masks, hand sanitisers, gowns or protective suits. What has been done now because I would not like to see the country caught again? Because of international travel now, the world is a smaller place. I am not an expert on this but the Spanish flu became an epidemic mainly in Europe. It did not travel as far and travelled more slowly. Many of us thought that perhaps Africa would be very badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic but it turned out that the virus did not reach parts of Africa because, from a development point of view, cars were not as available and people do not move as far. Many localities in Africa, apparently, remain, thank God, fairly Covid-19-free. My point is to ask what is happening now and what is being done now to ensure that we have indigenous supplies of PPE when we need them. Perhaps the Department and Mr. O’Grady might answer my question here.