Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy and I appreciate the point he is making. I established the task force for a reason, namely, to bring a varied range of disciplines, both public sector and private sector, to the table to deal with the various work streams that will be required to deliver the vaccine. There is a work stream currently operating in regard to information technology, for example, because IT will be key to this in terms of recording and so on. There is also the issue of manpower and the administration of the vaccine. Given the volumes involved, we will have to go beyond the existing, traditional way of administering a vaccine. Martin Shanahan, chief executive of IDA Ireland, is a member of the task force, as a link into the broader pharmaceutical and multinational industry in terms of its known experience in medicine storage and so on. Derek McCormack, an expert on cold chain logistics, is on the task force. Dalton Philips, chief executive of the Dublin Airport Authority, is a member. Paul Reid is there, obviously, because the HSE will still be a key operator and implementer in operationalising a lot of this work. We have some supports as well from the Defence Forces from a logistics perspective. A good team has been put in place in terms of the various work streams that need to be developed.

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